


Dragon Riders

by Firewhisperer13



Series: How to Train Your Dragon Series [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragons, Dragons: Defenders of Berk, Dragons: Riders of Berk, F/M, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 198,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22773838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firewhisperer13/pseuds/Firewhisperer13
Summary: Just after everything seemed like it was going to work out on the island of Berk, things start to shake up again. The dragons are still acting wild, there's problems with how to adjust to them, and of course, there's another tribe that seems to want to start a fight. But the biggest blow of all comes one day when Reign reunites with someone from her past that changes everything she thought she knew about herself. It's just an era of chaos, and this time, Hiccup and Reign may not be able to fix everything... All Rights Reserved, Dreamworks Animation, 2012-2014.
Relationships: Astrid Hofferson/Original Female Character(s), Fishlegs Ingerman/Original Female Character(s), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Original Female Character(s), Ruffnut Thorston/Original Character(s), Snotlout Jorgenson/Original Female Character(s), Tuffnut Thorston/Original Female Character(s)
Series: How to Train Your Dragon Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1636735
Kudos: 4





	1. (Reign)

_This is Berk. For generations, it was dragon against viking. The battles were ferocious. Then one day, everything changed. I met Hiccup and Toothless. And together we've shown people here that instead of fighting dragons, we can ride them, live with them, even train them_

The wind tossed my short hair about as I clung tightly to the person in front of me. He shifted his peg-leg back and the artificial wing of the dragon we were on sprung out, allowing us to fly higher, before we landed back on the ledge where five other dragon riders were waiting expectantly for us.

"Okay, guys. Best trick competition," Hiccup announced. Out of fear, I immediately flung myself from Toothless and onto the ground.

"Reign, what are you-"

"The last time you did this, I started plummeting towards the ocean. Pardon me if I have a concept of self preservation." Hiccup shook his head and turned back to the group. "Who's up first?"

"Uh-"

"Me!" The ever-cocky Snotlout announced.

"Actually, I think it's-"

"Me!" Snotlout once again interrupted Fishlegs.

"Sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm!" Astrid cried in frustration. "Go!"

"Oh don't worry, we'll go. And when we go, Hookfang and I are gonna light the sky on _fire!_ " Before Snotlout could finish, his Monstrous Nightmare had dove off the cliff and towards the water, before maneuvering through some tight impasses and looping into the sky, diving once into the water, and landing back onto the overlook. "I'm alive? I'm alive!" He turned back to face the rest of us, who all had unamused looks on our faces, and his elated expression dropped. "I mean, of course I am."

"Ooh, it's my turn," Fishlegs cried happily, making me smile. "Ready, Meatlug?" He asked his sweet little Gronkle. "Here we go!" She gently lifted off the ground and circled once, then landed on the overlook. "Yes! New personal best." I shot Fishlegs a thumbs-up, giving him some encouragement.

"My turn!" Ruffnut announced.

"No, my turn!" Her twin, Tuffnut, shot back.

"Guys?" I sighed. "Same dragon."

"Oh, right." Their Hideous Zippleback began to fly, but Ruff and Tuff were clearly giving contradictory orders, because the dragon's heads began moving in opposite directions and tangling up before slamming against a rock spire. Ruff and Tuff were tossed in the air and Barf and Belch caught them, then brought them back to the overlook.

"We almost died," Ruff panted.

"I know... Go again?"

"Hey, it's my turn," Astrid announced, clearly done with everyone's antics. She turned to Hiccup and smirked. "You might want to take notes. Let's go." She and her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly, launched into the air and dragged her tail through the water, did a few twirls in the air, shot up in a spiral, and landed back with the rest of us. Everyone exclaimed in awe, except Snotlout.

"Yeah, but can you do that without the dragon?" Astrid swiftly punched him in the arm. "Ow!"

"Well, looks like we've got our work cut out for us there, bud." Hiccup was clearly building up what he and Toothless were going to do. Without another word, the Night Fury shot off the platform and dove towards the sea below, pulling up and flying straight at the last moment. They kicked up some water as they flew, then weaved in and out of spires, and for the grand finale, Hiccup jumped off Toothless and ran along a small land bridge before jumping back onto his dragon. Toothless shot off four plasma blasts and I sighed.

"They're still the best." The pair landed back on the overlook and I climbed back onto the affectionate dragon, who purred in response. The six of us nodded and headed back towards Berk.

_Yup, dragons. Most people on Berk would say life here is better since we made peace with them. Unfortunately, dragons are still, well, dragons._

Hiccup and I landed back on Berk and headed back towards where he lived, Toothless following in stride. A Gronkle chased a yak, a Terrible Terror was attempting to snatch its owner's bread, but this was nothing new. Dragons and people were still adjusting to their new lives, and this meant there was going to be some conflict.

"Incoming!" Someone cried, racing past the three of us.

"Look out!"

"Dragon poop!" A flock of dragons flew over head and began leaving droppings, and Hiccup and I slowly began backing up.

"Ew! Gross, gross, gross," Hiccup gagged. "Oh, poop. Oh, that's disgusting." We looked at the two that we'd backed beside, and Hiccup nervously smiled. "Hey, Mulch. Hey, Bucket. Sorry about the, uh..."

"Every day at three," Bucket marveled. "They're regular, at least. A tip of the cap."

"Better than the days when it was kill or be killed." Mulch suddenly remembered something and pointed at Hiccup. "Hey, we have some fish for that father of yours. Bucket, give the boy the cod." The taller one picked up a fish that had been gutted.

"I ate it already? Did I enjoy it?"

"Uh, no, uh, actually, Bucket, I'm-I'm afraid the, uh..." I pointed to a dragon gnawing on the supply the two fishers had caught.

_Most of us here on Berk are willing to take the good with the bad. But there are those who will never accept the dragons, and will do anything to drive them away._

Hiccup and I stood and watched as his father ordered people where to put the food that was being stored before the freeze. Out of subconscious habit, I was fiddling with the necklace Hiccup had made for me, when a certain grumpy old man approached Stoick.

"Stoick," he snapped.

"Ah, here's Mildew with the complaint of the day," Gobber sighed, attempting to sound excited.

"You picked a bad time, Mildew. I'm in the middle of storing food. The freeze is coming." Mildew scoffed.

"It's the dragons again." Hiccup and I glanced at each other, and I began fiddling with the necklace faster. Those demons are not fit to live amongst civilized men."

"Neither are you, Mildew," Gobber shot back, causing me to snicker. "Why do you think we built your house so far outside of town?"

"Oh, very well, make your jokes. Meanwhile, these dragons upend our village carts, turn peoples' houses into piles of rubble."

"Aye, Mildew's right," someone called. I could see Hiccup paling by the second, and I nudged him, trying to distract the fearful boy.

"They even disturb an old man's rest! Can't you see these bags under me eyes?" 

"Oh, please," I muttered. " _I_ have bigger bags under my eyes, and I'm sixteen."

"He's right. He's hideous."

"These are wild and unpredictable beasts!"

"Right you are!"

"They even cracked this man's skull." Mildew hit is cane against Bucket's helmet. "Like an egg." 

"Eggs? I like eggs. Scrambled, over-easy, poached..."

"You need to put those dragons in cages."

"I agree!" Hiccup and I turned to Toothless, and his owner gently rubbed the top of the sweet dragon's head.

"If you don't, they'll eat us out of house and home, and destroy the entire village." That was enough. Hiccup grabbed my arm and dragged me out to face the crowd of angry people with him.

"They don't mean any harm," he tried to reason, "they're just dragons being dragons."

"Look, Mildew, if there's a problem, _I'll_ deal with it." Hiccup and I gulped and I went back to fiddling with the necklace. 

"Oh, there is a problem, Stoick. And I think I speak for everyone when I say you better do something about it." With that, the old man hobbled away, leaving Hiccup and I defenseless and unsure what to do.

Chief Stoick paced back and forth in front of a roaring fire. Hiccup, Toothless, and I hid behind a pillar in his house, trying to listen in on the conversation.

"We can't just let dragons run wild like they own the place," his father sighed. "We could put up signs."

"Signs? For dragons?" I rolled my eyes at Gobber's dim wit.

"No, for the people."

"Signs? For vikings? We're not big readers, Stoick."

"Then we'll build a huge net and stretch it around the plaza."

"Nets? You do know they breathe fire?"

"I know very well they breathe fire, Gobber." Hiccup and I emerged from our hiding spot. "Maybe Mildew was right. We have to figure-"

"No, dad, wait." Chief Stoick stopped speaking at the sound of his son's voice. "What if I deal with the dragons?" I picked up the stool Stoick had knocked over.

"You?"

"Who else? If anyone can control them, I can. I'm the best man for the job."

"You're not a man yet, Hiccup."

"Not if you don't give me the chance to be," Hiccup shot back. Stoick and Gobber exchanged glances, and Stoick seemed to cave.

"Fair enough. You'll have your chance. Starting tomorrow." Hiccup smiled and I nodded, before tapping him on the shoulder. 

"I'm going to turn it in for the night. I'll see you tomorrow."

The next day, I was awoken from a nap to the sound of chaos erupting and Astrid shaking me. 

"Reign, something's going on with the dragons," she informed me. "Hiccup said he needed you." I nodded and shot out of bed, quickly pulling on my shoes.

"You get the others and get to a high place. Hiccup and I will attempt to control them." My 'sister' nodded and ran out of the house, with me following in tail. Everything looked like it usually did, but cranked up to eleven. I quickly found Hiccup and raced over to him. "I thought you had this all under control."

"So did I," he sighed. I picked him up from his position- laying on the ground- and splashed a bucket of water over a smoking sheep.

"Sorry." The sounds of screeching came from above, and I sighed. "And it's three o'clock." Green, steaming dragon poop fell from above, and I quickly pulled Hiccup to cover before he collapsed, using me as support. "Let's get you back to your house."

"Oh, everything hurts," he muttered, rolling his shoulder.

"Well don't do stuff that'll make it hurt more," I sighed, not looking up from my drawing.

"Even this." He held up his peg-leg. 

"Hiccup?" I finally lifted my eyes from the drawing.

"Reign?"

"I... It's just hard to believe you're still standing." He groaned and flopped back onto his bed.

"I'm going to be seeing flaming sheep in my dreams for the next month." I stood and moved over to sit next to him, placing a hand on his arm.

"Hiccup! Hiccup, what's going on out there?" Chief Stoick entered the room, looking steamed. "The plaza looks like a war zone."

"I know it looks bad-"

"Really bad," I whispered. Hiccup rolled his eyes at me.

"But this is only, uh, phase one of my master plan."

"Oh, so you do have a plan?"

"I do. Of course I do. It's very complex, lots of drawings-which Reign has been helping me with- several moving parts. Yeah, it's pretty wild."

"Uh-huh. Well, this better be real, because Mildew stirred up the whole island. And if you don't get those dragons under control, they'll be calling for their heads." With that, his father left the room.

"Don't worry, bud." Hiccup scratched Toothless' ear. "Your head's not going anywhere."

"You do realize there are, like, a bazillion dragons out there, and only one of you? I hope you really _do_ have a plan." Hiccup looked down at the floor and I sighed. "Well then what are we going to do? The only thing we know how to do is kind of, sort of train them." With that, Hiccup perked up.

"Train them, you say?"

" _That's_ your plan?" Ruffnut scoffed. "Train dragons?"

"Here? Where we used to kill them?" Hiccup and I had called the group to meet us at the old dragon fighting arena the next morning, and the response to our idea so far wasn't great. Hiccup came over to Toothless and I carrying a basket of fish.

"Right. Because we don't do that anymore. That's why it's available."

"Actually, the dragons do seem a little nervous," Astrid chimed in.

"That's because they're very sensitive," Fishlegs informed us. "Meatlug especially. She lost a cousin here. We try not to talk about it."

"It's amazing your dad just gave us the arena," I said to Hiccup.

"Well it would be if he did, yeah." My expression quickly turned to a slightly angry one. "But he didn't so that's another thing we should try not to talk about."

"Wait, so we're going behind your father's back?"

"There you go, talking about it." He quickly changed the subject on me. "Uh, alright. Everybody, here's the thing. The dragons are out of control, we want them to live in our world without destroying it, but they can't without our help. They've been blowing things up in the village. We've gotta do something about that."

"Got it. Help dragons blow things up." That suggestion _really_ could have only come from Tuffnut. "We can totally do that."

"No, I believe I said-"

"Here's how we're gonna do it. First, we make them really, really angry." 

"No problem. We anger everybody."

"Guys, this is serious," I chimed in, trying to get the twins' attention. "Mildew wants all of our dragons caged. And I don't know about you, but that's not okay with me."

"You're right. She's sorry." I rolled my eyes and turned control back to Hiccup.

"Okay, then, next problem. The dragons are eating everything in sight." Hiccup pulled some bread from the basket and Toothless licked his lips. "Now, when a dragon grabs something it's not supposed to have, you can get him to drop it by giving him a little scratch just below the chin." Hiccup demonstrated on his Night Fury, and Snotlout approached, snatching the bread from Hiccup.

"Maybe that works with you and Toothless, but Hookfang and me, we do things a little different." Snotlout tossed the bread into his dragon's mouth and prepared to demonstrate. "When I want this big boy to do something I just get right in his face and- drop that right now!" He screamed. "You hear me?" Hookfang did as told, but picked up Snotlout once he dropped the bread. "See? He dropped it." 

"Should we help him?" Tuff asked as we all stared.

"Yeah, in a minute," I chuckled.

"All right, we've got a lot of training to do, but together, we can keep these dragons under control." Hiccup handed loaves of bread to the others for their dragons, and one for me to do on Toothless, since I didn't have one of my own.

"Uh, can somebody do that chin-scratchy thing?" Snotlout called. "Hello? You guys still there?" After quite a bit of training, we decided we needed to go into the village and put this to work, but when we got there, it was oddly vacant.

"Huh. No dragons." I nodded at Fishlegs' statement.

"That was easy."

"Lunch?"

"That's weird. If the dragons aren't here, where are they?" Suddenly, there was the sound of something igniting and a woman screaming.

"Something tells me that way," I sighed. The six of us raced off to see every single dragon on the island raiding the storehouse.

That included our own.

"Stormfly?" The Nadder looked up from her eating to glance at her owner.

"Hookfang!" Hiccup took my wrist and pulled me inside to see his father angrily throw a pillar.

"They've eaten everything," he announced. "We've got nothing left for the freeze."

"I warned you, Stoick." I jumped at Mildew's voice, unaware he was behind us. "But did you listen to me? No. You put a bunch of _teenagers_ in charge. Now look what the dragons have done. Caging is too good for those beasts." I growled, but Hiccup calmed me by patting my arm.

"Dad, I swear I can fix this. We- we were just starting to-"

"Enough, Hiccup. How can I trust you to control all the dragons, when you couldn't even control your own?" He gestured to the Night Fury, who was munching fish from a barrel.

"Oh, Toothless..." Stoick went back inside the burnt storage house.

"Bucket, Mulch, man the boats. We need another catch."

"It's too late, Stoick. It took us six months to catch all that fish."

"Don't tell me it's too late! You've got to try!"

"Of course we do. Don't tell the chief it's too late," Mulch scolded, attempting to blame Bucket for his mistake. "You're always so negative."

"I don't know what it is with me." Stoick rolled his eyes and carried a barrel out.

"Dad, please, you've got to listen to me. I know dragons better than-"

"Not not, Hiccup. I have a village to feed. The dragons have done enough damage. By tonight, I want every one of them caged. Understand?"

"Bah! You can't just cage these dragons. You need to send them away now!" I rolled my eyes at Mildew's persistence. The villagers began agreeing with him.

"You're right, Mildew. We'll cage them tonight, and in the morning, Hiccup will send them off the island." Toothless approached his owner and nudged him, causing me to feel a dangerous mix of sadness and anger.

"Chief, you can't..." I whispered.

"I'm sorry." With that, he walked away from the scene to try and organize ways to get more food. Hiccup looked at me with big eyes and I pulled him into a hug.

"Don't worry. We'll figure something out," I muttered.

"I can't believe we have to send them away," Snotlout lamented. I pushed around my food, not very hungry for obvious reasons.

"It's gonna be weird. I got used to Stormfly's face being the first thing I see every morning." I wrapped a supportive arm around Astrid's shoulders.

"Every night before I went to sleep, Meatlug would lick my feet. Who's gonna do that now?" Fishlegs flopped onto the table in defeat.

"I volunteer Tuffnut," Ruff joked.

"Whatever. What time should I be there."

"Come on, guys, let's get this over with." Everyone stood but Hiccup and I.

"This is the worst day of my life! We're never gonna see our dragons again." A sudden rush went through me. If I didn't have Toothless, Hiccup and I would have never forgiven each other, and we might not even be friends anymore. I _wouldn't_ let this happen. Determined, I stood.

"We can't let that happen." Everyone looked at me. "If it weren't for Toothless, Hiccup and I might not even be friends."

"Oh, Toothless, I'm gonna miss you so much," a certain old man mocked. I was busy questioning when he got here. "You know what you and your little boyfriend's mistake was?"

Uh, actually, he's-"

"Thinking dragons could be trained. A dragon's gonna do what a dragon's gonna do. It's their nature. And nature always wins." Two men opened the hall doors, causing a breeze that blew out the fire. Toothless acted fast and re-lit it.

"Oh, thank you, Toothless," a woman smiled. 

"You know what?" Hiccup looked at me, curious. "Mildew's absolutely right." I had the perfect plan. "Come on, you two." Hiccup followed behind as I ran to the arena, but knowing we'd never reach it in time, Hiccup and I climbed onto Toothless and flew the rest of the way. Just as the gate was about to close, we hovered over the arena. "Don't close it!" I screamed, hoping someone heard me. Toothless landed right next to the lever and I hopped off, pulling the mechanism in the opposite direction so it would release the dragons. "We are not locking them up."

"What happened?" Astrid asked. "Did you two change the chief's mind? Or are we going behind his back again?"

"Uh, one of those," I blushed. "Look, the dragons are gonna do what they're gonna do. It's their nature. We just need to learn how to use it." Everyone, including Hiccup, smiled at my idea. "Tomorrow morning, the six of us are going to help get all that food back, using our dragons." Everyone nodded and I turned to Hiccup. "Sorry about stealing your glory. I just came up with something and ran with it."

"Are you kidding? This is a great idea! You... you are brilliant." I smiled and climbed back on Toothless so he could take me home.

Hiccup, Snotlout, and I flew towards a fishing boat, and Hookfang dove.

"Snotlout, scare us up some dinner!" I ordered, then tapped Toothless to move to the next area. "Come on, follow me!" The rest of the group was close behind as we came to the next stop. "Astrid, use Stormfly's tail to plow the fields." She nodded and made her way to land, dragging the Nadder's tail through the fields. "Three o'clock. Time for the fertilizer!" Mildew, whose field we were plowing, grumbled. "Smile, Mildew! We just saved you three months of work!" Barf and Belch knocked down trees as they herded yaks on land, and Toothless finished the job.

"Woo-hoo! That was awesome!" The group landed in front of the stables.

"How did you know that was gonna work?" Astrid called to me.

"Because they're dragons, and they're gonna do what dragons do. We just have to work with them and not against them."

"You know who we should actually be thanking?" Hiccup was interrupted by the official bane of my existence.

"There they are, Stoick. Those dragons don't look like they're in cages to me."

"No. This is not what I asked for." I quickly stepped up.

"I'm sorry, chief. This was my idea. I should take the fall for it." He didn't respond to what I said.

"All of you to the arena. Now." We jumped and flew to the arena, awaiting out fate. Nervous, I messed with the necklace, and Hiccup took my hand and brought it back down, trying to help break my habit. In a few short moments, the gate opened and Gobber and Stoick approched.

"What's Stoick gonna do to us?" Fishlegs trembled.

"I'm too pretty for jail," Ruffnut complained.

"Heh. Where'd you hear that?" Her brother shot back.

"You all disobeyed my orders, and there _will_ be consequences."

"I told you we were gonna get in trouble," Astrid whispered to me.

"What? No you didn't. Never was that mentioned, ever."

"Ugh, you never listen to me." I stepped in front of the group, ignoring my sister.

"Chief Stoick, if anyone's going to get in trouble, it should be me."

"No, you all had a hand in this. You took over this place without permission, you released the dragons against my wishes. Things are going to change around here. That's why-" 

"We're getting a Dragon Training Academy," Gobber piped up. Everyone gasped and Hiccup and I looked at each other. Both of us were beaming.

"Gobber! I wanted to tell them!" Stoick whined.

"I'm sorry. You're right, go ahead."

"Well, you told most of it."

"You can tell them the part about how proud you are of them."

"Gobber!" Chief Stoick groaned before turning back to us. "Hiccup, Reign... Well, what he said. You've all made me proud. This dragon training academy is for you." Stoick flipped the switch that released our dragons from the cage they had just been put in.

"Hookfang!"

"Hey, Stormfly!"

"I missed you so much!" Toothless approached Hiccup and I and we both hugged him.

"Hey, bud."

"Thanks for holding in, there."

"Now all you have to do is train them."

"Not a problem, Chief," I smirked. "After all, we have him."

"Ahem." We all turned our attention to the group, and Hiccup and I blushed.

"And them, too." Hiccup pretended to sound unimpressed, then turned to me.

"If you don't mind running some classes..."

"Not at all!"

_Dragons can't change who they are. But who would want them to? Dragons are powerful, amazing creatures._

 _"_ Berk Dragon Academy." Hiccup read. "I like the sound of that."

"Thanks. We're gonna do this."

_And however long it takes, Hiccup and I are going to learn everything there is to know about them._


	2. (Hiccup)

_Everybody needs a place in the world. Some people are born into theirs. Some people discover theirs. And some people make a place for themselves. But then the world around them changes, and the place they made is gone._

"Every dragon has his own unique abilities that give it its special place in the world," I informed my friends, who were standing on either side of me, divided into two teams. Reign mindlessly played with her necklace, clearly only half paying attention. But I let it slide. "Which dragon makes the best welding torch?"

"Oh! Deadly Nadder." Astrid answered quickly, hoping to get the points before the other team.

"Its magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun," Fishlegs finished.

"Correct! Point to team Astrid." I scribbled down another tally mark. "The score is now one hundred to ten."

"And you _started_ with ten," Astrid teased.

"Oh yeah? Well the game's not over." Tuffnut had to take a moment to think something over. "Wait, what team am I on?"

"Next question: what is the shot limit of a Hideous Zippleback? Team Snotlout."

"I don't think they can count that high."

"Oh really? Let's find out. Barf, Belch!" The Zippleback sat up and fired at the wall until it had reached its limit, startling Reign out of her transfixed state.

"Looks like it's about three."

"Told you we could count that high." I sighed. The twins really weren't the brightest.

"It's six. You're half right. Five points."

"Yes! We're up to thirty!"

"Oh, my Thor..." Reign mumbled, placing her head in her hands.

"All right, it's our turn. What happens when you shoot fire at the owner of a Deadly Nadder?" Astrid whistled, causing Stormfly to shoot out some of her spines. They thankfully didn't hurt any of the members of the other team, but ended up pinning them to the wall.

"No fair!" Tuffnut protested. "She didn't give us time to answer!" Snotlout hopped down and continued whatever this was that was going on.

"I've got a question: what happens when I sic Hookfang on you?"

"Okay, guys, that's enough training!" I interjected, trying to quickly diffuse the situation. "So, we did some really good work here today." Snotlout, of course, completely ignored me.

"Prepare to face my Monstrous Nightmare!" He tapped the side of Hookfang's face, but he ended up lighting himself on fire while Snotlout was sitting on him. The viking cried out in pain, then sat in the water trough to put out the fire. "That's the third time this week!" Reign and I walked over to Snotlout to further look into the strange situation.

"Hookfang never flames up when you're riding him. Is he okay?"

"Maybe he just realized who his owner is," the redhead next to me teased.

"There's room in here for two." Disgusted, Reign grabbed Snotlout by his helmet and dunked his face underwater. She then sighed and went back to fiddling with the necklace.

"Hey, I noticed you messing with that. Is everything okay?" She looked up at me with wide eyes, having gone into that transfixed state.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. It's just sort of a habit I've picked up, I guess." I looked at her quizzically for a moment, then let it go.

"Come on. Let's just go for a walk for a little bit." Her demeanor immediately brightened up, and she nodded. We made our way out of the training academy and to the town, where our attention was immediately drawn to the group crowded around Gobber's Smithy.

"Gather around! Come on, one and all!" Gobber yelled to the crowd. "You may think these dragon-killing weapons have no more use, but think again." He reached behind him and pulled out a sword. "This long sword is now a lovely butter knife." He attempted to spread the butter pat on a piece of bread, but ended up cutting it to pieces instead. "Uh... it's also great for making bread crumbs!" The crowd was unimpressed.

"Well, this is a dark day," a gravely voice whispered in my ear. Reign and I turned, and our expressions immediately soured when we saw the source was Mildew. "A great dragon slayer peddling his weapons as kitchen utensils. "Mmm..."

"Hush, Mildew," Reign snapped.

"Up next, we have this, uh..." A fly buzzed over Gobber's head and landed next to him. "Handy fly swatter!" He slammed the mace in his hand down, but ended up breaking the entire counter. "Uh huh... also good for getting rid of unwanted tables... Now for the lady of the house!" Gobber gestured to a large catapult. "When the hubby's off pillaging, how are you going to protect yourself from home invaders? No problem when you have Big Bertha." He tapped the metal basket of the catapult, but that ended up setting it off and launching the rock he'd perched inside of it. Fed up, the crowd dispersed, with the exception of Mildew, who seemed bent on driving this in as my fault. "Wait, there's more! Come back! You haven't seen everything yet! I haven't cleared out my collection yet!" Defeated, Gobber sighed and gave up trying to pull people back over.

"It's hard to watch," Mildew taunted. "Especially for you, eh, Hiccup? The feelings of guilt must be terrible." His words were slowly starting to get to me. Maybe this was all my fault. After all, I had completely flipped things on their side here. I didn't think about how hard it would be for people to adjust. "Tearing at your insides. I mean, you put him out of business with your little peace pact with the dragons. You ruined his life. Bravo." With that, the old man walked away, leaving me feeling devastated.

"Hey, wait, I know that look," Reign piped up. "Don't for a second think making peace with the dragons wasn't a good thing." She placed a hand on my shoulder, but I forced a smile. Doubt was quickly clouding my mind. "Come on, let's go."

"Thought I would find you here." I looked up to see Reign sitting down beside me, taking a moment to pet Toothless, who purred at her. I couldn't help but smile. Toothless had really grown to like Reign recently.

"You know Gobber made this leg? He taught me everything I need to know to make Toothless' tail. I have to find some way to help him." She wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Don't blame yourself for this. I mean it. You haven't done anything wrong." My eyes caught the necklace glimmering in the moonlight. She never took it off, ever. She'd even declared it was the only Earthly possession she wanted to take to Valhalla with her. It made me think back to when I had given it to her, after she'd rode on Toothless the first time...

I sighed and stood up.

"I need to go talk to my dad about this. I can't just sit here and watch Gobber beg." She sighed.

"Just don't push yourself. Remember to sleep and eat, okay?"

"You know me a little too well..." Reign finally laughed. 

"Goodnight, Hiccup." My Night Fury nudged her. "Goodnight to you too, Toothless." We made our way back to my father's large home, and I found him just as he was sitting down to relax in front of the fire.

"Tough day of chiefing, dad?"

"I was all over the island," he sighed. "I married the Svenson girl to the Hodegard boy at dawn, then went down to the fields where some kids were tipping over Yaks, then back up to the newlyweds to settle a domestic dispute- I guess that honeymoon was over." I handed him a glass of water I had drawn for him. "Sometimes I wish there were two of me." An idea suddenly popped into my head.

"Th-There _are_ two of you!" I cried. 

"Is that another crack about my weight?"

"No, I mean Gobber. He can be the other you." My father's expression changed to one of confusion.

"Gobber? Ah, he's way too busy making all those dragon killing-" He stopped himself. Those weapons weren't necessary anymore, and the problem now presented itself to my father. "Eh, well he used to be. Until you- which is great! Except for Gobber."

"Exactly my point."

"You know, son? That's actually not a bad idea." My father put on his helmet and stood. "I could use a right hand."

"That works out great because that's kinda the only one he has." My father left to go talk things over with Gobber, while I retreated back to my room, sighing. From my point on my bed, my eyes wandered to the one drawing I adored most out of all the ones I had on my wall: the one Reign had done. It was a little sketch of a flock of dragons in flight, but it was amazing. It made me smile whenever I saw it.

Toothless grumbled from beside me, and I smiled.

"I know, bud. But hopefully, this will solve Gobber's problem." I sighed. "Hopefully..."

"We need to get things in order for tomorrow's lesson," I informed Reign as we entered the training arena. "We need to teach them about calming a riled-up dragon. So, we need to clear out the arena and gather up enough Dragon Root for everyone to use."

"I _could_ go get the Dragon Root... if I knew how to ride Toothless." I sighed. She had been bugging me about flying Toothless for a little while now.

"Reign, I'm not going to teach you how to fly Toothless." I had really put my foot down on this one. Normally, I caved whenever she wanted something, but not this time.

"Why not?" she whined. "He clearly loves me. We've got a great bond."

"Training a dragon is not just about the bond, Reign."

"Well then, what is it? Teach me," she begged.

"Well, uh... it's just that... Toothless' tail wing is designed to be controlled specifically by my foot." She shot me a skeptical glance, not buying it. "I... fine. I don't like the possibility of you getting hurt while training..." Her face changed. Her expression had now softened into one that seemed to resemble understanding.

"Oh... In that case, I don't need to learn." I was slightly shocked myself. I didn't think she would give in so quickly. But now, the atmosphere had changed. "I wish I had known you were worried about me. I wouldn't have kept asking."

"No, no, it's really fine." I once again caught the glimmer of her necklace as I readied Toothless to fly to the other side of Berk. "Do you... want to talk about what's been on your mind lately?" She almost seemed to know what sparked my interest, as her hand gently touched the silver piece. 

"I still need some time to think some things over. But I'll talk about it when I'm ready, okay?" Toothless nudged her again, sensing another change in her mood. "We should get going. It'll be good to have this set up before the next training session." My gaze lingered on her just a bit longer before I climbed up onto Toothless.

My father held two ice blocks against his head. It had- apparently- been a bit of a rough day with Gobber. I handed him another mug of water.

"Here you go, Dad." He took it with a miffed expression and downed it. "Wow, a two-block headache. You know, Dad, I think you're being... a wee bit rough on Gobber. It was his first day. Tomorrow will be way better."

"Oh, it will be for me... because it won't involve Gobber." I could feel mild anger rise in me.

"What do you mean?"

"I tried to fit a square peg in a round hole and it sunk a ship, and named a baby girl Magnus. And let's say she didn't look like a Magnus! But try telling that to her parents."

"I can't believe you let him go." I let out a sigh of frustration. "Well, we've gotta help him."

" _We_ don't have to do anything. You, on the other hand, are going to be busy finding a job for Gobber." I gulped. That was a task near impossible. Frustrated, I walked out of the house and into the night air. I had to think of somewhere that Gobber could work. No one would take him, not after how horribly today went. 

My eyes wandered to the academy, allowing an idea to creep in. It was a really awful idea, and would probably end in disaster, but it was at least worth a shot...

"You're bringing Gobber... here?" Fishlegs questioned, looking slightly weary. In fact, everyone seemed a bit on edge at my declaration.

"He's gonna be... great," I attempted to reason. "Nobody knows dragons like old Gobber. He's spent a lifetime, you know... studying them."

"So that he could kill them," Reign shot back.

" _If we can tap into that_ ," I shot her a glare that silenced her, "we'll all be better dragon trainers." Just as I finished saying that, the gate flew open, and Gobber entered with a cart of weapons. 

Of course...

"I'm back! Did'ja miss me?" The rest of the group's dragons snarled.

"First of all, welcome. Uh... and second, tiny question- why did you bring your, you know..."

"Killing things?" He tapped a sword with his hook, then began to pull a few weapons out. "I thought maybe we could train them by threatening to kill them. That's how my daddy taught me to swim." The presentation of weapons caused the dragons to screech once again. Gobber slammed a mace on the ground. "School's in session!" The dragons fled out of fear, flying off as soon as they were out of the arena. "Eh. I never liked school either."

"Great..." Reign sighed. "Now we need to go wrangle up the dragons." The group ran off and chased down each of the dragons, coming back much later. Everyone was completely worn out by the time they brought them back.

"What's wrong with you guys?" I asked, noticing Reign holding one side of her head.

"We've been riding the dragons for four hours. It took forever to chase them down after Gobber scared them away," she complained.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I just don't know what to do with him." My attention was diverted to Ruffnut, who was kicking Tuffnut while he was down, quite literally. "Do you guys always have to fight?"

"It's okay. I asked her to do that." His twin kicked him once again. "I'm just trying to get the feeling back."

"You going to return the favor or what?" He sighed and began kicking Ruff back as Reign made her way over to me.

"We've flown for hours on Toothless, and we've never had a problem," I observed.

"That's because we have saddles," she reminded me. That's when it hit me. The saddles!

"Saddles!" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"What?" Without thinking, I hugged her tight.

"Thank you, Reign! You're a genius!" 

"I didn't... do... anything." I let go and grabbed my saddle designs, then raced into town, finding Gobber looking defeated at his smithy.

"Gobber! I have a job you can do!" 

"Well, out with it then." He seemed so down.

"You can make dragon saddles!"

"Saddles? I love it! I've got so many ideas!" He took the papers from me before throwing them onto the ground. "But none like these. Good ones."

"I'm glad you're excited." I stooped down and picked up my plans. "But I still think there are some things in my designs that you could use. I mean, you _did_ teach me everything I know."

"Exactly! That's why you should let Gobber do what Gobber does best. I've been making saddles since you were in diapers. In fact, I made your diapers." I was slightly disturbed by that.

"I know you know what you're doing, but keep in mind every dragon is different. So you need to adjust the-"

"Hiccup."

"But-"

"Hiccup."

"But I just think-"

"Hiccup. I may have taught you everything you know, but I haven't taught you everything _I_ know. I sighed and shook my head, then left his work station to be greeted by Reign and Toothless. 

"Rough conversation?"

"You have no idea."

" _I've got my ax, and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face! I'm a Viking through and through!"_

"You know, he doesn't sing that song unless he's actually very happy. I think we did a good thing."

"We? That was all you, Hiccup."

"Well, you're the one that gave me the idea."

"Still..." She started messing with the necklace again; that clear sign that she was thinking about something, somewhere deep down. 

_What could possibly be bothering her this much?_

The next morning, we all met at the academy, waiting for Gobber to reveal the saddles he'd created.

"All right. This is an exciting day for all of us. Gobber has been working hard to-" I felt him shove me aside.

"I think they might want to hear from the artist himself." I stepped back and let him have the floor. "I've made a lot of saddles in my day- horse, donkey, and now, dragon. But these saddles are special. They're like my children. That is, if you strapped your child to a flaming reptile and rolled it." I noticed Reign cringe at that visual. So, without further ado..." He pulled away the tarp back to reveal... armed saddles.

"Wow..."

"Whoa..."

"Wow, Gobber. This is certainly... _not_ what I imagined."

"How could it be? I'm Gobber! Nobody knows what it's like to live in here." He tapped his head with the hammer attachment on his hook.

" _That_ I can believe," Reign muttered. I looked back at the saddles and sighed.

"Is that-"

"Yup. Flamethrower." He turned the nob on the device, causing it to shoot out fire. "Didn't see that one coming, did ya?"

"Uh, no. Not- not for dragons. They come with one built in, actually." I looked at the redhead on my left, who shrugged.

"I know. But can you really ever have too much firepower?" Ruff and Tuff had already put their saddles on Barf and Belch, which unfortunately came with catapults that they decided to test out. However, as soon as they were launched, Barf and Belch collapsed.

"How-?"

"Uh, catapults for the twins? Not such a good idea..." Fishlegs desperately attempted to get Meatlug off the ground with all of the maces on her saddle. But they weighed her down too much.

"Come on, girl," he encouraged. "You can do it. Think light." The poor Gronkle collapsed.

"Come on! You can't tell me my saddle is heavier than Fishlegs."

"My mom says I'm just husky..." Hookfang was clearly not a fan of his saddle, as the moment Snotlout put it on him, he shot a blast of fire and roared.

"Come on, Hookfang. What's wrong with you?" Snotlout attempted to comfort his dragon, but Hookfang wouldn't have any of it. "That's it. Someone's trading with me."

"Yeah, sure. I'll trade my perfect dragon for an angry oven," Tuff deadpanned. Stormfly and Astrid returned from their test flight, and she had a big smile on her face.

"This saddle's actually pretty good."

"Wait 'till you try the horn!" Astrid nodded and blew into the horn in front, which expanded and scared Stormfly to the point of shooting spines.

"So anyway, I-I think we're really going to need to make a few-"

"Changes." I was shocked Gobber and I were on the same page. "I'm way ahead of you. I've got so many ideas. It's getting crowded up here." He tapped his helmet once again. I shook my head, a little afraid of what he would come up with next. Gobber rounded up all the saddles and I allowed everyone to go back home and let their dragons rest, leaving Reign and I to clean up. There was so much going through my mind as I swept up the dust from the ground. Reign watched me intently, clearly not sure what to say. The sun was beginning to set when my father entered the academy.

"My Odin!" He exclaimed. "This place looked better when we were killing dragons here."

"Yeah, we sort of got Gobbered." Reign and Toothless moved over to the side, giving my dad and I some space.

"You know Gobber. He means well. He just... doesn't always do well. So, what are you gonna do about him?"

"I'm gonna clean up his messes and redo his work."

"Look, Gobber's like family." I was reaching my breaking point. I threw the broom down in frustration.

"Yeah, I know he is! That's why I can't say anything to him."

"No, son. That's why you have to. It's not fair to you, and it's not fair to Gobber."

"Why do I have to say something to him? You didn't. You just passed him off to me."

"That's what the chief does. He delegates." My father sighed and tried to shift the tone of the conversation. "Look, I gave you this academy because it's the best thing for Berk. Now you have to do what's best for the academy. And I'm sorry son, but what's best is very rarely what's easy." My father began to walk me out, so Toothless and Reign stood, following at a respectable distance. "What about him?" He pointed to Snotlout, still pinned to the wall thanks to Stormfly.

"Leave him. He's going for a record."

"You don't say." My father looked back and noticed Reign once again fiddling with the necklace. Toothless was looking at her with big, sad eyes, knowing something was wrong. "What about her? She's been very quiet lately."

"I've tried to talk to her, but she said she's not ready to talk about it yet. So I'll wait until she is. I don't want to push her into anything uncomfortable for her."

"She doesn't know where she came from. Maybe she's been trying to imagine home lately..." I looked back at her again. That couldn't be it, could it?

The clouds were lifted from my mind as my father broke off, leaving the three of us to approach Gobber. The light was on in his smithy, and I could hear him hard at work.

"You never know, bud. Maybe Gobber looked at my plans and is actually making the saddles better."

"I hope so," Reign sighed. "The dragons just need simple saddles." There was a sudden explosion from inside.

"Or not..." We made our way to his workplace and quietly entered. "Gobber?" I was startled as he turned around with a crossbow in his hands. "Don't shoot!"

"I would never shoot you, Hiccup. Unless I absolutely have to." At this current moment, I couldn't tell whether that was a joke or not. I laughed nervously.

"Still, if you could please put the crossbow down, I know I would feel better." He complied.

"You know, about the weapons. Maybe the catapults were a bit much for some of the dragons. So I've gone a different way. Gotten rid of the two big ones."

"Gobber, that's great!"

"And replaced them with six little ones!" I sighed. Nevermind...

"Yeah... Um, Gobber we need to talk. I think it might be time for you to take a little break."

"Hmph... In case you haven't noticed, the only time a Viking takes a break is to die."

"Maybe, uh, 'break' is the wrong word. What I mean is, I'm not sure things are working out." He paused his hammering for a moment.

"Well, get back to me when you're sure."

"Okay, I'm sure. Gobber, I'm gonna need to take you off the saddle project." He stopped hammering as realization set in.

"Are you getting rid of me, Hiccup? Well, I see why you had me put down the crossbow."

"It's just the saddles. We'll find something else for you."

"I don't need your pity. I've lost an arm and a leg. I think I'll survive losing a job."

"I'm really sorry, Gobber." I turned to leave and Reign placed a hand on my back in support. "Well, that was awful. I don't know what could be worse than that." Right at that moment, fire shot out from the middle of the village. "Okay, looks like I'm about to find out." We raced toward the commotion to find Hookfang angrily chasing Snotlout.

"I never... thought... I'd say this..." Snotlout panted, "but Hiccup... help!" Hookfang had gone on a complete rampage. Reign, Snotlout, Toothless, and I rushed to try and stop him.

"I don't know what happened. I was just trying to pat his head. He usually loves that. But this time, he went crazy." We met up with the others and my father. "My dragon hates me..." He landed and roared at all of us. Something was clearly upsetting him. He kept rubbing his face on the ground...

"They do say a pet starts to take on the characteristics of its owner," Fishlegs observed. "I think that's what's happening here."

"Hey!" Snotlout elbowed him in the gut.

"Yeah, I rest my gaze." I carefully stepped closer to Hookfang, trying to see what the cause of the problem was.

"When was the last time he ate?"

"Not for days." People started trying to put the pieces together. I held out a fish for Hookfang.

"You hungry, boy?" He sniffed it for a moment, then allowed me to toss it into his mouth. But the moment he began to chew, he winced and spat it back out... right at my father. "Oh... sorry, dad."

"We've got to bring this dragon under control."

"Don't worry, I can do this." I calmly extended my arm forward I rubbed the space between his nostrils. Hookfang began to calm down. "There you go. It's gonna be okay." He finally seemed to be calm, when suddenly, his eyes went wide and he ignited himself.

"Hiccup!" I heard Reign scream. "Ah!" I looked back to see Toothless push her to the side and bound toward Hookfang. 

"Way ahead of you!" I raced back to stand by her side as Toothless tackled Hookfang to the ground. "Toothless, stop!" I hadn't realized this was what he was going to do. I grabbed my dragon and calmed him.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup. I've seen enough. We tried it your way." My father raced off and Reign turned to me.

"Something's really wrong with Hookfang. Have you noticed-"

"He keeps rubbing his face on the ground?" She nodded. Hookfang suddenly shot a blast of fire in our direction, and Reign pushed me out of the way. "Come on, guys. Hurry up, think. What haven't we tried?" Snotlout turned around. "Snotlout, you have an idea?"

"Gobber!" We followed his finger to see my father coming back with Gobber, who was completely armed.

"Stand back!" he warned. "I came here to do what I do best."

"He's gonna kill my dragon..."

"No, he's not."

"Uh, yeah he is."

"You don't use that stuff to butter toast."

"Well, I mean, we would, but you don't." I approached my father.

"Dad, you can't be serious. Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon."

"I'm sorry, Hiccup, but sometimes you have to fall back on the old ways," Gobber sighed.

"But he's a good dragon."

"He's a good dragon!"

"There's probably just something wrong with him."

"There's definitely something wrong with him."

"We have to try to help him. We can't just get rid of him because he's having a bad day."

"A bad day for a dragon can be a disaster for us," my father argued. "That's not a risk I'm willing to take. Gobber." On that signal, Gobber advanced toward Hookfang. He swung a couple of binds over his head and slung them, tying together Hookfang's wings and legs. The dragon tried to get out, but had found himself out of fire.

"Ha. You're all out of fire." Gobber pulled out a sword and stepped closer, but I ran and grabbed his arm.

"I can't let you do this."

"There's no choice. It has to be done." Hookfang lunged forward and roared right in Gobber's face, causing him to stop. "Do you see that?"

"I do." We had found the cause of the problem! Gobber put his sword away and took on a different mindset. 

"Time to put this beast out of its misery." Reign came up to me.

"Hiccup! What are you doing?" she shouted. I held out a hand to shush her. Gobber jumped onto Hookfang's face and managed to get his hook into the dragon's mouth, yanking something out before being tossed away. Almost instantly, Hookfang calmed down.

"You didn't kill him!" Snotlout cried in relief.

"For a toothache? What kind of lunatic are you?" Gobber held up the large took with a pretty impressive hole in it. Once Hookfang recovered from the temporary pain of having his tooth ripped out, he returned to his old self. He bounded up to Snotlout and nuzzled him affectionately. However, in favor of preserving his image, Snotlout ordered the dragon to put him down.

"I don't know where that came from. Can you train that out of him?" I rolled my eyes and we all walked away, having had enough of all of this. I approached Gobber with slightly wariness.

"Thank you, Gobber. A bad tooth... I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"That's because you're not Gobber! I've forgotten more about dragons than most men will ever know. Well, better go put the girls away." He walked back to his cart of weapons, but he seemed oddly content with this. I stood there and thought for a moment.

"Gobber! Not so fast." He turned and looked at me. "How would you like to help care for the dragons?"

His smile told me everything.

_When the world around you changes, the good men find a way to change with it. And Gobber is one of those good men. In fact, he's one of the best._


	3. (Reign)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yes, I know this isn't how that scene sliding down the ice on Toothless goes, but like this is about Hiccup and Reign, and Reign doesn't have her own dragon (yet ;])

_Here on Berk, we made peace with the dragons. We're finally living and working together. And it only took us three hundred years... There's one slight problem: we forgot to tell the animals._

I held tight onto Hiccup's waist as he slid Toothless down the snow-covered mountainside.

"Woo-hoo!" He cried, clearly enjoying the adrenaline rush. I had to admit, this felt pretty amazing. My hair hand long come out of its tied up state, but I didn't care. He evaded Toothless past the trees and into the air, and everyone once in a while, I accidentally let out a little scream. "You all right back there?"

"Yeah! This is awesome!" I could have sworn I saw him smile affectionately, but that was quickly ruined as his face contorted, and there was a loud rumbling. I looked back to see an avalanche barreling toward us.

"Uh oh." Hiccup shifted his leg, attempting to get Toothless' tail fin to open, but every time the Night Fury tried to fly, he just fell right back down. I looked back, and my mouth opened in horror.

"His tail's frozen!" I cried. Thinking fast, I ended up crawling my way back to the tail fin and attempted to pull it apart, but it seemed bound together.

"Reign!" I looked forward to see us barreling closer to a cliff that had a large drop-off. I tried my best, but I couldn't get it, and we ended up tumbling down into the ravine. I slammed against the ground hard, and it took me a moment to compose myself. But when I did, I was left freezing. "Reign?"

"Over here," I managed to shudder out. "Hiccup, I'm freezing."

"Come here." I inched my way toward where it sounded like his voice was coming from, then felt a pair of arms wrap around me. Though it didn't do much to warm me, there was an element of comfort. Cautiously, I inched closer and pressed myself against Hiccup. "Where's Toothless?" A plasma blast lit up above us, revealing that we were trapped under a thick layer of ice and snow. The Night Fury continued to blast at the ice until a hole melted through the top. "I see daylight!"

"We're gonna get out of here," I sighed, relieved.

"Look at what he did." Hiccup almost sounded like a proud father, despite being nowhere near of age for that position. 

"He saved our lives." We both turned our heads at the same time and found our faces practically pressed together, causing us to jump apart in embarrassment.

"Uh, ah... um..." I cleared my throat. "So we're good now?"

"Good as new." For good measure, I punched him, hard, on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Despite that, Hiccup turned and smiled at me. Toothless had this look on his face, but both Hiccup and I ignored it.

"The hole needs to be a little bigger in order for us to be able to escape. It's too dangerous for Toothless to shoot at it even more. We need to wait." Hiccup nodded, and I few moments later, I shivered. It felt like cold was infecting me, creeping underneath my skin. 

"Here." Hiccup extended his arms out again, and I gently crept my way back over.

"...and then Toothless used his wings to block the snow," Hiccup continued. We'd been telling the story of what happened to the others. I was still attempting to warm up, so I had grabbed a blanket, and it was currently wrapped around my shoulders.

"I've never heard of anything like that," Fishlegs marveled. "Not even in the book of dragons."

"I know! It was incredible!" I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. "It's as if his protective instincts just kicked in."

"Who'd believe it? The dragons we'd fought for years came to our rescue."

"Yeah. If it wasn't for Toothless, we would have frozen to death."

"You know what? You could've used your own bodies to keep each other warm." Hiccup and I immediately turned red and jumped farther away from each other.

"Um..."

"Who would do that?"

"That's crazy."

"Hey, Reign, if you're still cold..." Snotlout extended his arms out and blew a kiss. Appalled, I knocked my elbow into the pillar next to me, which dumped snow onto his head. "Hey!" I caught a glance from Hiccup that almost looked like... relief, but chose to disregard it.

"Hey, Hiccup." He and I looked down to see Ruffnut and Tuffnut. "Your father's looking for you."

"He looked angry." I looked back at the brown-haired boy with wide eyes.

"He's looked angry since the day I was born. But I'm sure there's no connection." Hiccup climbed onto Toothless and flew back toward his home, leaving me with the others. The moment I turned to face them, they all had these weird looks.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Come on, Reign. You and Hiccup are smart. We _know_ you didn't forget that you could use your own body heat to warm yourselves up," Astrid teased. I rolled my eyes and tried to suppress the blush creeping up my face.

"I-we... that is to say... I mean..." I took a deep breath and turned on my heel. "I don't have to take this interrogation." I walked away from the others and back into the village. There was an odd feeling to the air... something wasn't right. People were rushing to make... storm preparations? There's no way there could be a storm coming. Winter was just starting. I watched as people shuttered their windows, raced food through their doors, and prepared weighted bags. Then, from the distance, I could hear Bucket screaming in agony. A storm was definitely coming. Hiccup approached me with a slightly paled expression.

"We have to wrangle all the animals into the academy before the storm. Get the others."

"Come on, big boy. You can do it," Hiccup encouraged the large Yak we were trying to get into one of the cages. "Ah, come on." The creature wouldn't budge. The main concern seemed to be that the dragons were in the way. "You'll really like them if you get to know them."

"The dragons look scary, but they're just big, scary reptiles."

"Just like Snotlout," Tuff quipped. Snotlout grabbed his shirt and readied a fist, then hesitated.

"You're the guy, right?" he asked.

"No," Tuff answered in falsetto. One of the Monstrous Nightmares snapped his jaws at a Deadly Nadder, causing the Yak to run and all the other animals to scatter. (A/N: I know that's not Hookfang, because he's not green, but I'm _pretty_ sure that's not Stormfly? The coloring's pretty similar)

"Wait, what if we looked at this from an animal's perspective?" Fishlegs got down on all fours and began to crawl around on the floor. "Oh hello, Mr. Dragon. I'm just a little sheep here- walking, doing sheep things. Baa, baa." Fishlegs turned to look back at us, and I couldn't hide my slightly confused expression. "You know, he doesn't really seem so big and-" He turned back around just as the Nightmare roared in his face, causing Fishlegs to scramble underneath Meatlug. "Sorry, but I'm siding with the sheep on this one."

"Look, I've learned that once you've had a positive experience with something you're afraid of, it isn't so scary anymore." Hiccup picked up one of the younger sheep and put it back with the others. "Okay, there you go, boys. Over here." Hiccup herded them right in front of the dragons. Not necessarily his best idea, in my opinion. "And that's what we have to do with these sheep. We gotta prove to them that they have nothing to fear." I watched in horror as the Monstrous Nightmare accidentally almost lit one of the sheep on fire, managing to catch it's tail. I extended my arms and kept it from running any further as Hiccup rushed over to put out the fire. "And at this rate we'll never get any milk or eggs." Dark clouds were beginning to roll in, and the wind significantly picked up, as though intentionally rushing it along. Hiccup shot up and attempted to wrangle the animals, but things only got more chaotic from there. The chickens were scurrying around his feet, the yaks were rampaging, and the sheep were huddled in a corner, terrified. I managed to stop one of the large, hairy creatures and attempted to calm it. "Another way for the animals to overcome their fear is to show them that dragons are afraid of things too." Everyone shot Hiccup a skeptical glance, so I piped up to help.

"Remember Magnus the Merciless? He was a pretty scary guy." Fishlegs shuddered at the memory. "I was afraid of him until I learned that _he_ was afraid of the dark."

"During the day, merciless."

"And during the night, Tuffnut." The blonde elbowed his sister in the gut. "Ow!"

"Hey, that's a real problem."

"I'm just saying... knowing he was afraid of something made him less scary to me."

"Yes." Hiccup reached into a barrel and pulled out some eels. "So let's show the yaks that dragons are afraid of things too." He held up the slimy creatures in front of the dragons, who roared and flinched at the sight of their seemingly mortal enemies. The yaks seemed to be communicating with each other.

"I think it's working." Suddenly, one of the eels slipped from Hiccup's grip and began to slither toward the Monstrous Nightmare, causing it to back further and further against the wall, causing its tail to fly out and knock a sheep against the cement. Luckily, the fluffy creature survived and seemed unscathed, if not a bit shaken. Hiccup groaned in frustration and I placed a hand on his back.

"Don't worry."

"Worry? I-I'm not worried! Do I look worried?" I sighed and crossed my arms in that way I did when I was frustrated. Suddenly, lightning flashed in the distance, followed by a powerful roar of thunder, causing me to jump. My fear of thunderstorms was _definitely_ still with me. Time was running out, and now all of the creatures were startled and running around the academy as though it were a madhouse.

"Aah! What are you doing?" Snotlout screamed. Hiccup gathered up some of the chickens as I calmed the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Hey! Calm down... Get back over here." I gently pushed it back toward the cage.

"You know what I'm learning from this? Chickens are really, well, chicken." I pretended to laugh at his awful joke, then flattened my expression.

"What if we showed them how much we have in common with the dragons? They both lay eggs, right?" I raised an eyebrow at Fishlegs. "A Terrible Terror laid one last week." Fishlegs picked up the egg, which he must have rescued, and set it down before the chickens. They cocked their heads at it for a moment, then made their way over to it, and one of them jumped up on it.

"All right. See? An egg's an egg, right ladies?" Just then, the egg exploded with some hot, slimy substance, causing the chickens to flee again. "Until it explodes..." Gobber and Mulch rushed through the gate and seemingly ignored the chaos unfolding.

"Everybody out! The storm is here!" Only now did I notice snowflakes rapidly falling onto the ground. It wouldn't be long before they started to stick.

"Wait! We haven't made any progress with the animals."

"Your father wants everyone in the Great Hall."

"Take the others. I need to stay and keep working with the animals. They're still afraid."

"Ya can't get eggs from a frozen chicken! We've got to get the animals in the barn." Thunder crashed once again, and my heart did a little jump. I could feel my breath getting shorter, and my vision was blurring. Gobber and Mulch gathered up all the animals and quickly ushered them away as I remained frozen in place. Everyone else rushed out, except for Hiccup, who noticed I wasn't following and turned back.

"Reign, we have to go!"

"I-I-I can't, Hiccup!" I could feel tears brimming in my eyes. "I can't go out in that!"

"Come on! We have to!" 

"I can't do it!"

"Well, I can't leave you here. You could get hurt."

"I could get hurt out there too!" He ran back to me, and without a moment of hesitation, firmly grasped my hand.

"Don't let go. I promise I've got you." I managed to smile at him, and we raced off to join the others, only to find that the entrance to the barn had been snowed over. Lightning and thunder screamed, and I squeezed Hiccup's hand out of shock.

"So much for the barn..."

"There's no other place to hold them!" Hiccup's head shot up; a clear sign he had an idea.

“The Great Hall.” Another crash caused me to grip his hand with a crushing force.

"So, we're gonna have the dragons and the animals under the same roof..." Mulch chuckled nervously. "We know that won't work."

"We have no choice. Let's go." We started to make our way down the mountain side, when suddenly, lighting struck a tree and knocked it over. Stormfly and Hookfang, who had been herding the animals along with us, became startled and ended up scaring the animals once again. They ran in chaotic, unorganized circles, trampling Snotlout and nearly crashing into Fishlegs. After they'd caused their chaos with us, they raced off into the glaring whiteness. Without thinking, Hiccup dragged me over to Toothless, and the two of us hopped on.

"Where are you two going?"

"We're going after them!"

"Forget it, Hiccup! We'll never get them rounded up in this storm!"

"With Toothless, we can. I have to try. If I don't, we starve to death."

"No! Your father would kill me if I left you out here!" Ignoring all of Gobber's warnings, Hiccup took off. "Sorry, Gobber!" Warily, I looked back to see the others following behind.

"We've got company!" I announced. Hiccup took the briefest second to look back, then lowered Toothless to fly closer to the ground. The Night Fury shot out a plasma blast to give us some temporary light.

"You find as many as you can! We'll herd them back to the Great Hall."

"Can we swing by my house?" Fishlegs yelled. "I'd like to get my heavy coat." I pressed myself closer against Hiccup, both for warmth and out of fear of another lightning strike. We pulled up over a cliff, and Hiccup pointed down, deep into the blizzard.

"There they are! Come on!" Everyone dove and began to chase the animals, but it seemed to only make them run faster.

"Yaks on the left! Chickens to the right!" Snotlout knocked Fishlegs out of the way.

"Hey! I'm flyin' here!" He suddenly veered away from a tree and into the sky, his flying pattern becoming completely erratic. Together, Fishlegs and Astrid were able to trap most of the sheep and get them on the right course.

"Hiccup! Stray sheep!" We glanced over and saw a few of the woolen creatures running up a mountainside. Suddenly, one fell away from its flock and began sliding toward that ravine Hiccup and I had been trapped in earlier.

"Hiccup!"

"I see him!" Toothless dove at a speed that caused the wind to split some of my skin open, but I didn't care. The dragon managed to catch the little sheep before he met a terrible fate, and set him down on solid ground. "Good job, bud." The snow was starting to get into the open wounds on my fingertips, and I was losing the feeling in them quickly. Astrid emerged from the falling snow.

"Hiccup, the storm is getting worse! I can't see anything!" Determined, Hiccup turned Toothless around.

"Come on, bud. Give us some light." Toothless shot out a plasma blast, revealing the last of the animals we needed to round up. "Stray yaks, twelve o'clock."

"I see them!" Ruff and Tuff dove toward the fleeing animals as I fought to remain conscious. The one thing I couldn't handle was the cold. Any temperature drop below freezing was too intense for my body, so this snowstorm was like something straight out of a nightmare. The twins flew back toward us, revealing that the yaks weren't yaks at all! They were Gobber and Stoick! They put them down, and Hiccup landed Toothless, taking the time to help me off before we both approached Stoick.

"You shouldn't be out here, Hiccup!"

"Dad... I'm sorry I let you down."

"It's not your fault, son. I'm taking you back."

"Which way?" I couldn't blame Gobber for getting lost.

"Follow our tracks." Stoick pointed in the direction they'd come from, but there were no tracks on the ground. They'd already been covered by fresh snow.

"So much for that idea!" I violently shuddered, attempting to keep myself warm and awake.

"Sir? What are we gonna do now?" Fishlegs asked timidly. We all shivered at the same time." He looked around at all of us.

"Everyone, come together." He extended his arms out, and we all came into a circle, standing as close as possible without actually touching. Suddenly, the dragons came closer, and caged us in a circle of their wings. Everyone stared at them in awe. "What are they doing?"

"They're protecting us."

"It's their natural instinct." 

I think that's what I said. 

Each dragon shot a blast to create a fire, and things slowly started to warm up. Toothless bounded over to the three stray sheep, and gently got one of them to enter our circle, which caused all the others to follow. It was amazing, a miracle, even!

"Your dragons are really something, son."

"Yeah, they are." 

I wish all of this had been enough for me... but it wasn't. I could feel myself shaking even harder than before, and it was getting more and more difficult to stay awake. I think at that moment, everyone noticed.

"Dad, something's wrong with Reign!" I stumbled and collapsed into the snow, and found no strength to lift myself back up. I was stuck down there. "Whoa, I've got you." I could feel a few people helping me up, but that's the last thing I remember before everything went black.

I gently opened my eyes as I felt feeling come back to my body. My limbs felt heavy, and there was a stinging pain in my finger tips, but I could feel my limbs again.

"She's waking up!"

"Come on, give her some space."

"Okay... everyone out except Hiccup and Stoick. Come on, go, go..." Things were blurry at first, but after my vision cleared, I was able to get my bearings. I was in the Great Hall, wrapped in what seemed like five blankets. 

And I currently had a Night Fury staring down at me with big eyes.

Toothless suddenly purred and licked my face like an enthusiastic dog. I laughed and managed to sit up.

"Hey, bud," I chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm okay." The eccentric Night Fury stepped away, revealing Hiccup sitting in a chair, looking slightly wan.

"Thank Thor you're awake..." he muttered before standing up and coming over to hug me, which I happily returned. "What... happened back there?"

"I can't handle the cold all that well. I'm surprised you never noticed." I looked down at my hands to see all my fingers wrapped in bandages.

"If you feel good enough, Gothi cleared you to get up and go," Gobber informed me. Warily, I stood up and stretched. My legs felt slightly shaky, but overall, I was fine at this point. However, as I walked toward the door, I had Toothless on one side of me, and Hiccup on the other, both looking at me as though I were about to fall again.

"Guys, come on," I laughed. "I'm fine."

"Sorry." Hiccup blushed. "I just... after that first time you passed out, I got really freaked out."

"Sorry I scared you, then." I thought for a moment. "How'd I get back, by the way." Hiccup turned even redder.

"Toothless and I carried you back." I smiled affectionately and turned to give Toothless a light scratch. I then turned to Hiccup and hugged him. 

"Thank you, both of you."

_We made our peace with the dragons when we learned that we could trust them. Turns out, they actually have instincts to protect us. All of us. Life on Berk just got a little warmer._


	4. (Hiccup)

_When you're riding a dragon, communication is key. You almost have to read each others' minds... or else. And you have to have an open mind, because sometimes, your dragon knows better than you._

Reign gripped onto me tightly as Toothless zoomed through the air. She was still getting used to the tricks that we did, and I'm not entirely sure she was too fond of them to begin with. After all, her first experience on Toothless involved him swooping and diving, and dangling her above the trees until she agreed to not reveal that he existed. That kind of thing likely scars a person.

"Low-level evasive maneuvers," I ordered Toothless. The others followed in suit behind, with Astrid right on our heels. "Come on, bud." We dodged around a few trees, then I shifted my foot, which fully opened Toothless' artificial tail fin. From below, I could hear Snotlout scream.

"What are you doing? Are you _trying_ to kill me?" Hookfang roared. "We've gotta go back. I think you missed some branches..."

Astrid and I were neck-and-neck now, and I managed to catch a strange look she flashed Reign's way. The redhead on the back of my dragon chuckled.

"What are you planning?" I asked her, throwing up one of my eyebrows at her smirk.

"Oh, nothing," she answered innocently. I looked forward again to see Astrid barreling toward three trees that had fallen against each other.

"Stormfly, up!"

"Uh, Astrid, I think it's down..." Reign cried.

Astrid suddenly stood on the back of her Nadder, and just as it looked like she were about to smash into the trees, she jumped into the air, over the treetops, and landed on Stormfly's back perfectly, aside from the fact that she was screaming the whole time.

"You were right, Reign. It _was_ down. I almost died."

" _Almost_ died?" Snotlout scoffed. "I would have died." Reign laughed out loud at his appearance: plants and leaves were stuck in his helmet, while two small branches of pine needles stuck out from his nostrils.

"That's a good look for you," she commented teasingly.

"Hey, has anyone seen Fishlegs?"

"I saw him yesterday," Ruffnut responded. "Does that count?" I rolled my eyes and flew straight, going over the dense coverage of the forest, until I finally found Meatlug trapped in a tree with Fishlegs caught in one across from it. 

"Whoa. There you are, Fishlegs." I landed Toothless and the two of us hopped off. 

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just... hanging out. It's not like I crashed or anything... Okay, I crashed. There, I said it." I shook my head and reached up, trying o pull Fishlegs down. However, I really only made things worse. 

I'll spare you the details.

"Oops..." I muttered.

"And there goes my dignity..." I reached for Fishlegs' foot and pulled as hard as I could, but the Viking barely budged.

"Yeah, you're pretty stuck. I think I know how to get you down, but you have to stay perfectly still."

"Why? What are you gonna do?"

"Careful, bud. He's not wearing any pants."

"Hiccup..." Reign sighed, putting her head in her hands and shaking it violently.

"Huh? Wait a second... what does my lack of pants have to do-" Toothless fired a tiny shot at Fishlegs, just enough to knock him out of the tree, and bounded forward to catch him. "Thank you." He carefully hopped off and walked toward me. "I believe those are mine." I tossed the pair of pants to Fishlegs, glad to be rid of them... and that he had put them back on.

"Now, what are we gonna do about Meat-" I was interrupted by a loud crash as the branches holding Meatlug up gave out. "-lug..."

"Can you not tell the others that Meatlug broke the trees? She's sensitive about her weight..."

"How did this happen?" Reign asked, clearly concerned for their safety.

"I don't know. I was just flying along, taking notes on the flora and the fauna- typical guy stuff- and something weird jumped out of the bushes. It was like a... like a flaming squirrel."

"A flaming squirrel?"

"Or a chipmunk. Or some other flammable rodent... I don't know, Hiccup! It scared us! Isn't that enough for you?" He hopped back on to Meatlug and they flew back toward home. I turned to Reign with a smirk on my face.

"Did you hear that? A flaming squirrel." I helped her back onto Toothless, then got on and took off. "Everyone knows there's no such thing as a-" Suddenly, a blast of fire shot out, knocking us both off of Toothless. "-flaming squirrel!" We both tumbled to the ground. "You okay?" I asked the girl.

"Yeah. What about you?"

"Unharmed, just a little spooked. You saw that, right?" She and Toothless nodded at the same time, and my attention was called to a fallen tree branch, which now had a large, smoldering hole in it. Slowly, Reign and I peeked over, and off in the distance, hidden between some rocks, saw a frightened-looking baby dragon. Reign gently made her way over to it and smiled.

"Hey, little guy," she whispered. "Who are you?" It looked at her for a moment, then jumped forward and attempted to bite her hand. Toothless and I decided that was the right moment to go over to her. "Whoa! Settle down, big fella." She tried to gain its trust again. "I've never seen anything like it." I knelt down next to her and smiled at the baby dragon. Toothless got a little closer, sniffed, and then backed away, growling.

"You're not helping," I sighed.

"I think we may have discovered a new species here." Suddenly, Toothless cut his way in front of Reign and I and tried to nudge both of us away. 

"Whoa, hey, Toothless! What has gotten into you?" The baby dragon scurried back into the hole it had found.

"He looks hurt." Reign tried once again. "Don't be afraid. I'm a friend," she cooed. "Hiccup, can I have some of that stuff you keep in your vest?" I pulled out some Dragon Nip and handed it to her. The baby dragon slowly inched its way out. "It's okay. It's just a little bit of Dragon Nip." It finally got close enough for Reign to help it, when Toothless roared, causing the baby dragon to do the same. It scurried into her arms, and she sighed. "Hey, come on. Play nice," she scolded, until she cried out. "Ah! Little dragon, big claws." She picked it up and held it a few inches away from her, while I worriedly examined her stomach from afar. She noticed and rolled her eyes. "Relax, Hiccup. I'm fine. Now, come on. Let's go. We'll fix you right up."

"I was just making sure you weren't seriously injured," I defended.

"I know, I know..."

"This is so exciting!" Fishlegs exclaimed, almost dancing with anticipation. "It's a whole new species!"

"Doesn't look like a flaming squirrel to me."

"We have no idea what it's capable of!" The baby dragon sniffed the ground, curious about where it was. "There's no telling what it might do." Tuffnut kneeled in front of it. 

"Flame. Do it." Instead of shooting out fire, the baby dragon lunged forward and bit tight onto Tuff's nose. "Aah! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" He managed to pry it off, but it then jumped onto his sister's nose. "Hey, that is funny."

"Come on, you guys. This is serious." The dragon jumped into my arms. "We have to figure out what to do with him. He's hurt."

" _He's_ hurt?"

"He's just really scared," Reign added. "He's settle down."

"Um, new species, remember? We actually don't know what he'll do."

"Well, somebody's gotta take him home," Astrid sighed. Everyone stepped back, including Reign. 

"Well, big guy... here's your somebody." It growled and looked at me, confused, for a moment, before seemingly understanding what was going on and almost relaxing. Everyone else decided to get on their way except Reign, leaving her and I alone with the dragons. "Why didn't you step up?" She sighed and brushed some of her hair out of her face.

"The Hoffersons have been kind enough to take me in. I don't want to push anything with them." She bent down slightly and smiled at the baby dragon before stroking the top of its head. I couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, have you ever thought about finding your own dragon?" I regretted the question as soon as it came out of my mouth. Reign rose and quirked a fiery eyebrow. "N-not that I mind you riding with me on Toothless. You j-just always seem kind of scared whenever we do tricks or something. I don't want you to be uncomfortable." Her expression relaxed.

"I suppose if I manage to find the right dragon, then yeah, I guess so." She looked at the baby dragon once again. "You know your father's gonna protest you keeping this thing, right?" I rolled my eyes at her.

"Sure, Reign..."

"No, no, no."

"I told you," Reign muttered.

"He's not staying here. I've got a one dragon limit."

"Oh, come on. He's not a very big dragon. Think of it more like... a flaming squirrel." A tiny laugh escaped Reign's mouth.

"Don't want one of those either." My father set down some logs into the fireplace. "Toothless? What are you waiting for?" My Night Fury prepared a blast, but before he could light the logs, the baby dragon shot out fire and did it instead, causing Toothless to jump back. "Ah. Looks like you got torched." Toothless growled. "Oh, that's his name, by the way. Torch."

"So, he can stay?"

"Well, we can't throw him out now. We just named him."

"Dang it..."

"I told you." Reign angrily glared at me, and I backed off out of fear I would get hit. "L-Let's go get their fish..." Reign and I dashed out and grabbed the large basket of fish waiting for the dragons. "Okay, one hundred for you-" I set the basket down in front of Toothless, while Reign plucked a single, large fish off the top.

"-and one for you."

"There you go, boys. Your first supper together." We turned around, prepared to be able to sit down and eat ourselves, when Toothless suddenly roared at Torch, who scampered away. I looked down into the basket to see it completely empty. "Wow, Toothless... You sure are hungry tonight, aren't you, bud?"

"I can help you get things set up for the night. After that, I should probably head home."

"Oh, yeah, of course." She ran out and came back with a slab of stone, carrying it upstairs and setting it down close to Toothless'. 

"There you go, Torch. This is where you're gonna sleep." The little dragon instead scampered to Toothless' slab and attempted to sleep, but the bigger dragon instead threw him off by his tail. Torch flew back over, and the two stared at each other.

"Aw, look at that. He's made himself at home. Toothless, you don't mind sharing your bed for the night, do you?" Toothless responded by growling and perching up on the roof. I sighed and sat on my bed. "I hope he sleeps through the night. He hardly ate."

"He'll be fine, Hiccup. And if something happens, you know where to find me. I'll see you tomorrow." I waved goodbye and waited until I heard her say goodbye to my father before blowing out my candle. Toothless hissed loudly again. 

"And you... go to sleep."

"All right, Torch. Let's figure out what you are." Reign yawned over dramatically, to show how displeased she was that I had gotten her up early. Which for her, was anything before noon.

"Oh, this is so exciting! Documenting a whole new species. Learning all about it."

"Wait, learning?"

"No, thanks." I sighed and pulled out the Book of Dragons, sifting through it to see if I could find a species that looked similar to Torch.

"There's nothing in the Book of Dragons that looks anything like him."

"We even get to determine what it's called... Ha, that is... that is a _really_ big responsibility. I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"I am!" Snotlout bragged as Reign began to take measurements. "I'm gonna name the snot out of it."

"Twenty inches for the wings."

"That's a big wing span..."

"Bigwing! Bigspan? Bigwingspan!"

"May I have the honor of administering the claw test?" Fishlegs pulled out the scroll he kept with him and unrolled it, and Torch sliced through it, no problem. "Look at these talons. They're razor-like."

"Sharpclaw! Razorfeet! _Razorsharpclawtalonfeet!_ "

"Hold on. Is he serious?"

"You know what's next, don't you?" I was getting slightly uncomfortable at how enthusiastic Fishlegs was getting about this.

"Not really..."

"Only the single-most important test to determine a dragon's reaction to eels!" I waited for an answer. "The eel reaction test." Fishlegs reached into the basket of eels we kept around, causing all the other dragons to scatter. Torch backed up for a second, then gently inched forward and sniffed the eel before taking its head in his mouth and swallowing it. Reign's eyes went wide, then she furrowed her brown, and her expression seemingly changed a million more times as she stared at Torch. "He ate it! He ate the eel!"

"Eeleater! Come on, that's perfect." I rolled my eyes and walked away.

"Fishlegs, has there ever been a dragon who wasn't afraid of-"

"Never in recorded history. We're in uncharted water, my friend." I took another glance at Torch.

"You hear that, Torch? You're one of a kind."

"Now we need to get it to fly."

"Maybe if Torch saw Toothless fly... Toothless!" I called up to my dragon, who hadn't wanted to come into the Academy for some reason. "Let's take a ride, bud." He completely ignored me. "Toothless!"

"Ha ha. So much for the 'dragon trainer,'" Snotlout teased. "We've got this." He hopped onto Hookfang. "Watch and learn." The Monstrous Nightmare suddenly took off at high speeds, taking Snotlout far away and up high before looping back around and landing in the academy once again. "Okay... your turn... But don't think you have to live up to that..." Torch warily inched his way to the end of the table and flew in a little circle, before landing and patting his wings on the ground in a strange pattern.

"What's he doing?"

"I think something's wrong..."

"Oh, man! We broke him."

"Maybe he can't fly." Torch suddenly began to spark at the mouth and fly in wide circles, creating patterns with the embers he left behind.

"Whoa..." He landed again and jumped into my arms.

"You... are one incredible little dragon." I noticed Reign's face changing again, and her hand flew up to the necklace. She was thinking about something... but what?

"Whoa... look at that burn mark." Ruffnut drew our attention to the pattern Torch had created.

"Huh... and look at _this_ burn mark." Tuff shoved his smoldering arm in his sister's face.

"Did you see how it flew? It spun like... like a typhoon."

"And he came back just like a boomerang!" Astrid added.

"Hotspinner! Flaming-Comebacker!"

"No. Typhoomerang."

"Typhoomerang? Nah, I don't get it."

"I thought you at least had half a brain," Reign quipped halfheartedly. She was clearly still deep in thought.

"You okay?" I asked her, growing increasingly concerned.

"Huh?" She seemed to just notice we were here. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just... tired."

"Yeah, okay, Torch. Just hold still." Reign was intensely concentrated on her drawing of him, wanting to get every detail right. "I'm trying to draw you. You're getting your own chapter." Torch thrashed and fought with my helmet, which he had found and somehow gotten onto his head. I looked down at him and smiled.

"Argh!" I attempted to come off as intimidating, playing with the little dragon. "Rawr!" Torch screeched back, and we continued to play until I heard Reign chuckle. I looked over to see her smiling at us, arms crossed against her stomach, almost looking relaxed for once. "What?" She turned red. 

"Oh, uh... Y-You're distracting Torch! I need to draw him!"

"Oh, please. That's not it." She huffed.

"Fine. You and Torch playing together is cute. You're really good with dragons." I smiled and found myself blushing. "Now seriously, give me Torch back. If I draw the two of you in the Book of Dragons, people centuries from now will wonder what kind of freak of nature you were." Suddenly, Toothless came bounding into the room and knocked Reign off of her chair. "Ah!" I rushed over to find her pencil broken.

"Toothless. Look what you did." He just roared and growled. 

"And now I've got to get more charcoal."

"I'm sorry about that..." Her eyes went wide.

"Oh, no, no, no! It's fine, really!" She scratched Toothless' head to show everything was good. "Can you come with me?"

"Sure." I turned to my Night Fury. "Behave yourself while we're gone." Torch tried to follow, but I stopped him. "Hey, it's okay, big guy. I'll be right back." We walked down the stairs so Reign could grab a replacement. 

"You think Toothless is acting like this because he's jealous?" I looked at her.

"What?"

"He may feel threatened now that your attention isn't entirely focused on him." She began to wrap the spare charcoal around the wood.

"Is that what you were thinking about?"

"Among other things, yes. I'm just trying to figure out what Torch is and if we need to be concerned."

"Having second thoughts, eh?" She chose not to answer that, but it didn't matter. A few moments later, I heard a crackling noise from above, and looked up to see a fire in my room. Reign and I scampered up, and she grabbed a blanket to put it out. "Toothless!" Torch jumped into my arms as Toothless growled at him. "What- what is going on here? Toothless, why did you do this? What is wrong with you?"

"Hiccup-" Toothless roared before hopping out the window.

"Toothless! Wait!" Reign sighed and handed me the pencil. 

"I'll be right back." She climbed up the wall and out the window Toothless had fled from. "I know, big guy. He's starting to worry me, too." I made my way back over to the desk, hoping maybe I could pick up where Reign had left off. I shifted the picture of Torch, when I noticed another one underneath it. Gently, I picked it up and examined it. She had only done the basic outlines, but it almost looked like two people riding a dragon.

Was this... her and I on Toothless?

I found myself smiling as I set the drawing down.

"It's weird. It's almost like Toothless is jealous." I sighed. "And my first girlfriend is a dragon..."

"Another thing we have in common." I had gone to talk to Gobber about this whole situation, hoping he knew something. Well... I was also trying to distract myself from the fact that I hadn't seen Reign since she left last night. "Something must be going on under the surface. Dragons are complex creatures, Hiccup- operate on many emotional levels. Me? I've only got the one." I turned my head at the sudden roar of Toothless. He began screeching and screaming at me.

"You see? This is what I've been talking about. Toothless, settle down!" Torch jumped down from my arms and inched closer to Toothless, who suddenly snatched him up in his mouth and began to bound away. "Gobber, grab him!" Gobber jumped out in front of my Night Fury.

"You want to dance, big boy? Because I've got my dancing shoe on!" Torch struggled and snarled, then suddenly sparked and flew out of Toothless' mouth. Toothless began to chase him, but Gobber grabbed onto his tail, trying to slow him down. It did absolutely nothing, however, and he ended up getting dragged along, before being smashed into a shelf. "My pan pipes! Now I can get the band back together!" I rolled my eyes and stood in my dragon's way.

"Toothless! Back down." He growled and refused to drop his defensive stance, so I stood my ground and locked glares with him as Gobber began to play his pan pipes. "Not... helping... Gobber..."

"Sorry."

"I don't know what's gotten into him, but I don't like it." Toothless growled angrily and stalked away. As the sun began setting, Reign finally appeared, thankfully looking unharmed. "Hey! Where'd you go last night?" She suddenly looked panicked.

"Oh, um... chasing Toothless just really wore me out. I'm sorry if I scared you or something."

"No, no, it's fine. I was just surprised you left all your drawings there." 

"You didn't look at any, did you?"

"Um... no," I lied.

"Good." Her mood seemed to brighten. "Hey, you wanna take Toothless down to the cove?" I nodded and Reign called over the sulking dragon, who reluctantly allowed us to climb on and took off. However, he suddenly turned in the opposite direction of where we were supposed to be going.

"Whoa! Whoa! Toothless, the cove... is this way." I tried to pull him in the right direction. "Where are you going? No! We're going to the cove." I shifted my foot to extend his tail wing and steer him in the right direction. I hopped off as soon as we landed. "Okay. You've got to stay here. I never thought bringing Torch home would lead to this. I've got to separate you two until I figure this out."

"Seriously?" Reign held on as Toothless jumped in front of me. I sighed.

"Toothless, Reign, this is serious. He's got to stay here." They refused to let me go. "Okay... a crazy, out of control dragon and an equally as crazy girl blocking my way out."

"Excuse me?" Reign spat. I started to walk one way, then quickly ducked the other and climbed the rocks to the point where Toothless couldn't get me.

"Or not." I sighed down at the redhead. "Reign, come on. Let's go." She crossed her arms defiantly.

"No."

"Come on. You're being ridiculous."

"Just go, you jerk!" She hopped off Toothless and glared at me, then stormed to the other end of the cove. I stood there in shock for a moment, then rolled my eyes and made my way back home. Exhausted from what had just happened, I immediately climbed into bed. But as I sat there, things began to creep into my mind. I alternated my focus to Torch, and my eyes wandered to Reign's sketch. I couldn't help but smile at it. That's when the sinking feeling occurred.

_What have I done...?_

"You did the right thing with Toothless," Astrid attempted to assure me. "He'll snap out of it. As for Reign... I'm sure she will, too."

"Yeah, but what if they don't? Then you won't have a dragon to ride. And if you don't have a dragon to ride, then you can't be the leader of the Dragon Academy! Ha! And Reign wouldn't be here to take your place!"

"Yeah, then I'd take over. Do you really want that?" Ruff and Tuff finally made their way around to us.

"You guys will not believe what we just saw."

"Excuse me, we're having a power struggle."

"We're not having a power struggle," I grunted.

"The whole forest... ultimate destruction."

"It was beautiful. The whole thing was torched." I suddenly became very alarmed.

"Torched..." I looked down at the little dragon in my arms. "Show me." I hopped onto Stormfly with Astrid and we all headed off in the direction the twins had come from. Sure enough, there was a large, brown spiral in the center of a clearing, just like the one Torch had made.

"Just like we said. Ultimate destruction!"

"We've seen that burn mark before."

"Not this big..."

"You know what this means. Big burn mark..."

"...big Typhoomerang." A large, red Typhoomerang suddenly flew up in the distance, shooting fire below.

"He looks really mad." I put things together, and the pieces suddenly fell into place.

"Uh, it's not a 'he.' It's a she..." Everyone looked at me. "That's Torch's mother..."

"Torch is a baby!" I was a little shocked Astrid hadn't figured that our. She was smart.

"That's what Toothless was trying to tell me."

"Whatever gets between that mother and this baby... is gonna get fried!" Fishlegs tossed Torch to Tuffnut, who ended up passing it down to Snotlout through his siser.

"Just leave it, and let's get out of here." He passed Torch off to me and backed away. The little dragon began calling out for its mother, snapping her attention to us.

"Uh oh..." I set him down. "Go, uh... go home to your mama." She barreled toward us, mouth aflame. "Run!" Everyone scrambled to their dragons. "You guys go that way. I lead her into the forest away from the village."

"Hiccup!" I ran as fast as I could, trying my best to lose Torch and his mother. But the baby followed, and as long as he did, so did his mother. "Oh, please stop following me!" I ended up leading them to the cove. "Reign! Toothless!" I jumped down in hopes of still finding them there, and sure enough, they were ready to go. Reign caught me and helped me adjust on Toothless, and we flew up. "Thanks, you two. I'm so sorry. I should have listened to you."

"You can offer your overdue apology later. We've got a mama Typhoomerang to fight!" We just barely avoided a shot of fire.

"Toothless, evasive maneuvers." Reign gripped on tight as Toothless sped up. However, we couldn't shake this dragon off our trail. "Oh, why won't she stop?"

"Um..." Torch suddenly popped up from behind a very panicked looking Reign,

"What the- Torch? What are you doing? You need to be with your mother."

"Maybe he thinks you're his mother," Reign teased. "Wait, actually, that might be it..."

"Toothless, we have to try something else. We'll use her size against her. Toothless, up!" Toothless sharply rose as high as he could. "Now, dive!" Just as quickly as we had gone up, we went back down. The Typhoomerang tried her best to follow the sharp turn, but ended up crashing to the ground instead. We landed and I tried to look closer from my position on Toothless. "I hope she's okay..." Torch screeched and scampered over to his mother, nuzzling her face until she woke up. Two other baby Typhoomerangs jumped down from their mother's back and greeted their brother. "Good job, bud. Everybody's back where they belong. Goodbye, Torch." The mother Typhoomerang flew away in a spectacle of sparks. "Let's go home, Toothless."

I tossed a fish to my dragon as my father cooked dinner and Gobber once again played his pan pipes.

"I wrote this just for the occasion."

"I should have known you were just trying to protect me." I scratched the top of Toothless' head. "That's what you do." The doors suddenly opened, and Reign entered my home, walking over to me. "That's what you do, too."

"Huh?" She crossed her arms and stood over me. Toothless suddenly made a face and spat up half of the fish, like he had those first couple of days training him.

"And then you do that..." Reign shook her head and tossed the fish from my lap.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't just tell you about the mother Typhoomerang. I guess I was hoping you'd trust Toothless' instincts."

"It's okay. I should have known something was wrong. You really only get this stubborn when something is." Anger flashed on her face.

"What?" I turned red and grabbed her folder of drawings.

"Uh.... here's your drawings back!" She snatched it from me and sighed.

"That's what I came here for. Thanks." She began to look at them as she walked out, then stopped when she got to the one I had seen. On the back, I had written 'Can't wait to see the final product! I know it will be amazing. -H.' She looked panicked for a moment, then she eased into a smile and looked back at me. "Thanks Hiccup. It's yours, when I'm done." With that, she left and headed back home.

"Those two are gonna get married. I feel it."

"Seriously, Gobber?" I grunted.

_Communication between dragon and rider goes both ways. Not only must the dragon follow the rider's lead, but the rider must listen to the dragon as well... because sometimes, what the dragon's saying is what you really need to hear._


	5. (Reign)

_As you fly through life, it's important to know who you can trust, and who you can't. I know I can always count on Toothless. And it's important for him to know that no matter what, he can count on Hiccup and I._

I tried to keep myself from screaming as I watched Hiccup fall faster and faster toward the ground. He looked completely relaxed, but as usual, I was still on edge. Sometimes his tricks went a little too far, and while this was an exercise for the other dragon riders as well, it was still pretty insane. I had already taken my turn as Hiccup watched from the sidelines, and we had both declared neither of us should be on Toothless when he has to catch the other, as he should be completely reliant on his instincts. We made sure his tail fin couldn't collapse, then were each sent on our way as the other watched nervously from the shore.

Thankfully, the Night Fury swooped in and caught Hiccup, then looped around to get me.

"Nice catch, bud!" Hiccup congratulated. "A little close."

"No kidding..." I muttered. "Granted, that's not _Toothless_ ' fault." Hiccup glared back at me as I wrapped my arms around his waist. "Just saying."

"Oh, quiet, you." We made our way back to the others, who all looked equally as terrified. "It's your turn," Hiccup instructed Fishlegs. "Jump."

"I don't wanna jump! I-"

"You have to believe she's gonna catch you. It's a trust exercise."

"I like to do my trusting on the ground, thank you very much."

"Same here."

" _Like this_ , chicken legs." Snotlout let go oh Hookfang's horns and allowed himself to fall toward the ocean. I'm sure he expected Hookfang to catch him, but the Monstrous Nightmare wouldn't budge.

"So, should we mention something to Hookfang?" Tuffnut tentatively asked.

"Let him sleep on it." Astrid, on the other hand, decided to take action. She maneuvered Stormfly closer to the large dragon.

"Hookfang! Get him!" The Nightmare looked at Hiccup and I for a moment, almost confused, and Toothless roared at him. His gaze suddenly flashed down to his rider, who was tumbling closer and closer to the ocean at an alarming pace.

"Not feeling the trust!" Hookfang dove and managed to catch Snotlout, but they ended up crashing through a building and onto the ground.

And that building just _happened_ to be Mildew's house. Just our luck. 

"Oh Thor, we're dead..." I sighed. Just as fast as they had fallen in, Snotlout and Hookfang shot back out of the old man's house and sprinted back to all of us.

"Oh, something tells me we're gonna hear about this..." Hiccup looked around at all the others, and I took action.

"Lesson's over for the day, everyone. Just- just go home." Everyone landed, and Hiccup, Toothless, and I started back toward his home. "Reign, I think you should go back home for this."

"No, no. I want to be there to stand up for the dragons." Toothless happily purred and I scratched his head as we walked. We entered his house to absolute peace and quiet, and we thought we had almost gotten away with this.

"Hiccup!" 

Or not...

Hiccup took a seat at the table, while I rested my hands on the top of the chair and Toothless curled around both of us. Stoick stormed in and slammed a piece of wood down on the table, causing Hiccup to nervously laugh.

"Shingles again, Dad? Didn't we have roofing material for dinner last night." I smacked Hiccup on the back of his head, hoping to set him straight. "It was an accident, Dad. I'm sure Mildew is making it sound worse than it is."

"A dragon and a huge, obnoxious boy crashed through his roof. Twice."

"Well, sure it _sounds_ bad if you're gonna... stick to the facts."

"Of all the houses on the island, a dragon _had_ to crash through Mildew's... You know he hates dragons more than anyone else."

"I-I know. You might want to talk to him about his attitude."

"Listen to me, Hiccup. I gave you the responsibility of training those dragons. Everyone knows that. All eyes are upon you, son." This was a lot of pressure he was putting on Hiccup. "Whatever those beasts do reflects on you. And whatever you do reflects on me." I sighed. This was really starting to sound like a self-preservation thing. I know he's the chief and all, but he should cut his kid some slack. Training dragons is a process. It's not going to happen immediately.

"I'm sorry, Dad. You're right." Hiccup stood up, pushing me back a little along with the chair.

"You and your friends are gonna go back to Mildew's and fix that roof. _Without_ your dragons." Toothless whined and Hiccup and I gently pet him. 

"Got a break there, bud." 

"Ah! Not so fast. Aren't you forgetting something?" Hiccup and I looked at each other and shrugged. "It's boot night! They need to be aired out." Hiccup and I covered our noses at the absolutely horrific stench, and even Toothless grimaced.

"I think it's gonna take more than air..." We walked out the door and saw all our other friends doing the exact same thing. 

"At least the only thing we have to do it fix the roof," I sighed. "Spending any time within Mildew's vicinity is punishment enough." Hiccup chuckled.

"I just wish people would learn to get along with the dragons..." I crossed my arms.

"It a process, Hiccup. Just like training them is. We have to remember that when it comes down to it, they're wild animals. It'll take time, but it will be worth it in the end. _And_ if anyone can do it, I know it's you." I smiled at him, and I saw him turn red.

"Thanks, Reign. It's been a lot easier having you help out, though." I shrugged.

"It's no problem. I've had a lot of fun doing it. And I've had a lot of fun spending time with you." I realized what I had just said. "A-And all our other friends, of course!"

"Right, right... spending time with all our friends." We both awkwardly chuckled, and I sighed.

"I should go. It looks like there's snow coming."

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll see you then." We both awkwardly stood there for a moment, trying to go in for hugs a couple of times, before I waved and made my way down the steps, trying to avoid Mr. Hofferson's boots as I entered the house.

I awoke to the sounds of commotion and chaos. Out of fear that something awful had happened, I quickly got dressed and raced outside. People stood out by their front doors, scratching their heads and looking around. What was going on? I found Hiccup and walked over to him, hoping to get some sort of explanation. He immediately noticed my confused look.

"Everyone's boots are missing. And now we've got to follow what are supposedly Zippleback tracks in order to see if, I would presume, Barf and Belch stole them." I shook my head.

"And who seemed to know exactly what to do?"

"Mildew." 

"Hmm..." We decided to follow Chief Stoick and the rest of the crowd. The tracks led all the way to the academy, which revealed... Barf and Belch sleeping next to a giant pile of boots? This wasn't right...

"So there's a bunch of boots piled around a Zippleback? That doesn't mean-" Stoick held up a boot that had been seemingly ripped to pieces. "Okay, fine. He took the boots." I shook my head. There was definitely something strange going on here...

"How are we supposed to do any work in this weather without our boots?" someone asked.

"This is outrageous."

"How long until something is done about these creatures, Stoick?" Mildew grumbled. "How much more can we stand?" Everyone began shouting all at once, and Gobber attempted to diffuse the situation. 

"Listen to yourselves... 'My feet are cold!' You're Vikings! _Everything_ is cold! I'll fix your boots for you. You'll be back to work in no time." I flashed a grateful look in Gobber's direction and he winked.

"You all heard Gobber. You'll be getting your boots back good as new."

"That's it? No consequence for these dragons?" I was growing more and more suspicious of Mildew by the second. Not that I wasn't just perpetually suspicious of him.

"They took our boots, Mildew. The world isn't coming to an end."

"Oh, don't be so sure. Dragons are wild beasts. There's no telling what else they'll do behind our sleeping backs." I'd had enough.

"They don't destroy things on purpose," I defended.

"Bah."

"But you do have a point, Mildew." I looked at Hiccup in shock.

"What? Hiccup, how could you say that?"

"They are wild animals. And they need us to keep an eye on them. And rest assured, we will do just that." Tentatively, Hiccup took my hand and held it up. "Together." Barf and Belch stood up and trotted over to the other side of the academy. In the process, they managed to step in a pile of snow. I looked at the print carefully and grew more suspicious. It didn't match the ones outside. 

"Hiccup, these aren't the same prints as the ones outside." He looked closer and gasped. "I knew something was up. Things just didn't seem right. We need to do something about this." 

"I agree. Let's get everyone together. I think I have an idea." Only now did we notice that he was _still_ holding my hand. We quickly jumped apart and blushed. "So, uh.... we-we should get going."

"Y-Yeah..." As we walked out of the academy, I got smirks on Gobber and Chief Stoick's faces. What was the deal with those two?

"We're going on night patrol," Hiccup announced.

"Night patrol? I love it! What is it?" I rolled my eyes at Tuffnut.

"It's where we patrol... at night... to keep an eye on the dragons. Make sure they don't get blamed for anything else."

"Have you cleared this with our parents?" Fishlegs asked nervously. "Because some of us may not be allowed out after a certain hour."

"Not allowed, or afraid?" Snotlout teased.

"Hey, things happen after dark."

"Guys, we _have_ to do this. You heard Mildew. He wants the dragons banished."

"Permission to shoot first and ask questions later?"

"Permission to skip the question?"

"We're just patrolling!" I sighed. "Nobody is shooting anyone."

"I have a question: what's fun about that?"

"It's not _supposed_ to be fun," Astrid chimed in. "It's supposed to be a Hiccup idea." I laughed.

"Exactly." Hiccup took a moment to think about what she had just said. "What?" Astrid and I burst out laughing.

Toothless did another sweep around the village on Hiccup's command. Night patrol hadn't been so bad. We'd done a lot of talking and even more laughing, and it almost reminded me of the first time I rode on him.

"Well, Mildew will be happy to know what dragons do at night. They sleep like everyone else." I smiled.

"You know what? I've enjoyed myself, Hiccup." He seemed shocked.

"What? On night patrol?"

"It hasn't been too bad. Then again, it may help if you've got someone else to patrol with." His confusion melted into a smile.

"Yeah, this has been kind of fun. It's nice to just talk to someone sometimes."

"As opposed to Toothless? Or yourself?" He rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't going to say that."

"Yes you were. You totally were."

"I wasn't..."

"Oh, oh, my bad. I left our your wall."

"Ha ha, Reign," Hiccup deadpanned. I threw up my hands in defense.

"Hey, I speak the truth."

"You don- that has nothing to do with anything!" I raised an eyebrow at him

"Hiccup!" The boy and I turned our heads to see his father angrily marching toward us. "You and your friends, the Great Hall, _right now_!" I glanced at him before we followed behind his father. The doors opened to reveal a shocking sight: scratch marks littered the walls and pillars, banners torn to shreds. "Who could have done such a thing?"

"Well, it looks like a dragon to me." I shot an unamused look Fishegs' way.

"We don't know that it was a dragon for sure, Fishlegs."

"Sure we do. These claw marks- it was obviously a Monstrous Nightmare. The spacing of the talons is dead on."

"Once again, thank you, Fishlegs," Hiccup deadpanned.

"Oh, thank you. It's just basic stuff."

"But how could this happen? We had every dragon accounted for at all times. Right, guys?"

"When you say at 'all times,' and 'every dragon,' what exactly do you mean?" I sighed while Hiccup face-palmed. He couldn't be serious.

"Okay, what happened, Snotlout?"

"Well, I was detaining a suspect who wasn't showing sufficient respect to the sash."

"I think I showed sufficient respect to a sash that says 'dumb.'"

"We gotta change that name..."

"Anyways, and I was questioning said suspect, Hookfang _may_ have- and I'm not saying he did- but it is possible he wandered off for a few..."

"Seconds?"

"Minutes."

"..hours." Everyone groaned in frustration.

"That's way longer than minutes." The doors suddenly banged open.

"Oh, no, it's true. The Great Hall... so many memories. My three weddings, their three funerals. Oh, the funerals." 

"He got three people to marry him?" I whispered to Hiccup.

" _That's_ what you're focusing on?"

"The dragons must have gone on a rampage. I hate to say it, Stoick, but-"

"I know what has to be done." Mildew slammed down his cane mere inches from the chief.

"So do I." Chief Stoick placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Starting tonight, and every night, I want all the dragons put in the academy under lock-and-key." I sighed, thankful the solution wasn't something more extreme.

"What? That's it? Look what they did!"

"This just doesn't make any sense. A dragon wouldn't just come in here and destroy the place. I mean, none of the food was even touched." He made an excellent point. If the dragons truly had gotten in here, there should be most, if not all, of the food missing.

"I don't know why dragons do what they do, but I'm not gonna let them do any more damage." The three adults exited the Great Hall as our group moved closer to Hiccup. Gently, I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll figure out what's going on. We always do."

I held tightly onto Hiccup as we all flew our dragons inside for the night, a feeling of betrayal understood throughout the entire group. The companions were reluctant to let us leave, just as the owners were. Fishlegs was quietly singing to Meatlug to calm her down, but to no avail.

"That usually works. Her whole bedtime routine is upset. She won't even lick my feet!" I crinkled my nose at the image that put in my head. "Fix thi-"

"Watch it, Fishlegs. At least my dragon doesn't need a lullaby and a blankie," Snotlout teased him.

"It's your fault that all our dragons have to sleep in jail," Ruffnut protested.

"Yeah, you don't see our dragon going on a rampage and wrecking stuff." Barf and Belch roared and Hookfang and leered forward slightly, crushing a crate under one of their feet. "Well, not any good stuff." 

"I don't think a dragon wrecked the Great Hall, or stole the boots," Hiccup finally spoke up. 

"None of us wants to believe it either, Hiccup, but you saw the proof." I glared at Astrid.

"What proof?" I snapped. "You saw the footprints, too. They were supposed to be made by a Zippleback, but they were no deeper than mine. Look at these." I gestured down to a print Barf and Belch had just made in the snow. "I could lie down in them."

"Well, there could be a lot of explanations why a dragon made shallow footprints."

"Like, hello? He was trying to be sneaky."

"All right. Well, how do you explain the Great Hall?" Hookfang lunged at Barf and Belch and lit himself on fire.

"Snotlout, do something about him, please," Hiccup sighed. "We're trying to think over here."

"Yeah, I gave up thinking. Never been happier." Hookfang got closer to us and roared.

"Snotout..."

"I'm not the boss of him. He always does that when he gets angry." Hookfang began to stalk in circles, leaving smoldering prints in the stone ground.

"... or goes on a rampage," Hiccup muttered, starting to put pieces together. A smile suddenly spread onto his face as he made his way over to Toothless. "That's how I can explain the Great Hall." He jumped on the back of his dragon. "I've gotta tell my dad about this." I shook my head as the pair flew away. 

"I believe him, but I don't know why he's still trying..." I sighed. "It's pretty clear people aren't going to easily change their minds. Besides, Chief Stoick's going to want proof."

"Hiccup has proof."

"Physical proof, Ruff." There was sudden commotion from the village. Looking around at each other, we rushed toward the source of the noise, smoke rising along the horizon. We reached the crowds to see the armory nearly burnt to the ground, the horrid smell of ash penetrating our nostrils.

"Every one of our weapons... gone!" Chief Stoick lamented.

"Prudence... My poor darling." Gobber cradled a charred and bent sword. "So sorry. You should have had a long, bloodletting life."

"She didn't have to die, Gobber. Hiccup's dragon left us utterly defenseless." I flashed a suspicious look at Mildew.

"Dad, you know Toothless wouldn't do this."

"Sure, listen to your boy, Stoick. That's what got us into this mess. See what happens when you leave your dragon all alone, waiting outside."

"What... did you say?"

"Sadie! Oh! I guess your throat-slicing days are over." Chief Stoick shook his head and faced his son.

"These dragons have done too much damage. It's no longer safe to have them on Berk. I want them gone." My eyes went wide.

"What?"

"Finally!" Mildew happily pranced away.

"Round them up, and take them all to Dragon Island." I watched Chief Stoick leave, crossing my arms and shaking my head.

"We've done this dance before..." The chief turned to address the rest of the people around us.

"By the end of the day tomorrow, there will be no more dragons on Berk." Gasps rippled across the circle.

"Oh, what a glorious day that will be." Mildew drew in a deep sigh. "Party at my house!" People groaned and walked away. "Don't forget, boy. Right after you drop off your dragon, you're fixing my roof." 

"This is wrong."

"I know," I sighed. "It's horrible."

"It's the worst day of my life."

"No, Astrid. Something here doesn't add up," I corrected.

"All I know is I'm losing my dragon."

"For now... yeah, okay, but I- I just need time to fix this."

"What are you talking about? It's over."

"Forget it, it's over."

"Yeah, forget it." Everyone left us in the dark silence. 

"I'm so sorry, Hiccup," I muttered. "I wish there was more I could do."

Dragon Island came into view as the sun began to disappear over the horizon. Ships followed those on dragons so that they would be able to get home. Everyone said their goodbyes as we landed, trying their best to keep from having complete breakdowns. Hiccup gently removed Toothless' saddle and held the Night Fury's chin.

"I'll be back for you," he stated. "I promise." He hesitated before beginning to walk away.

"Bye, bud. I know I'll see you soon." I reached out for Hiccup as we made our way back to the ships, but Toothless followed, growling as though he didn't understand.

"No, bud. You've gotta stay here, and take care of the other dragons. It's gonna be okay, Toothless. Trust me." He extended his hand out and Toothless nuzzled his nose into it, before Hiccup lost momentary control and crouched down, hugging the innocent creature. There was shouting from the ship, causing me to sigh.

"We have to go..." Hiccup broke away and nodded at me, setting down the saddle on some rocks before we made our way onto the ship. As soon as everyone was accounted for, we shoved off, and I rested against the mast, staring at the island as it got smaller and smaller in the distance. After brief hesitation, Hiccup leaned against it as well, stealing glances at me as though I couldn't see him out of the corner of my eye.

"There's something Mildew said that I can't stop thinking about. He- He said 'see what happens when you leave your dragon to wait outside?' He knew Toothless wasn't with me before the armory fire." I raised an eyebrow.

"So..."

"So- So he lives on the other side of the island. Why was he in town? And how would he know where we were before the fire." I looked down at my feet for a moment before stepping closer to him.

"You really think he set that fire?"

"I think he did all of it, and I think he did it so that my dad would get rid of all the dragons." We leaned back against the mast again.

"That's a pretty serious accusation. How are you gonna prove it?" Hiccup went silent, thinking things over for what seemed like an infinite amount of time. 

"I have an idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be Continued...


	6. (Hiccup)

_There's an old Viking saying: when friends are roasting on the spit, you're the one who feels the fire. Mildew has made the entire island believe that dragons are too wild, that we all can't live together in peace. He's wrong, and I'm going to prove it._

Snotlout groaned in frustration as he halted searching along the sand.

"We've been here for hours, and we haven't found anything!"

"We've been here for ten minutes," I protested, "and you've done nothing but build... that." I gestured to whatever they were making out of rocks and twigs.

" _This_ is Snotlout Manor. And all I need now is a queen." He slid closer to Astrid, who grunted in disgust. Tuffnut suddenly screamed and began stomping on the exact thing they had been working on since we had gotten here. "What are you doing?"

"Storming the castle."

"Come on, guys! I'm telling you, Mildew framed our dragons. I saw dragon feet in Mildew's house, and I watched him throw them into the ocean."

"I don't mean to be Norbert the Negative, but the ocean is really, really vast," Fishlegs pointed out. "And our chances of finding those dragon feet are about as good as Snotlout and Reign-"

"Don't go there," the redhead snapped.

"Going nowhere." She got closer to me and softened her expression.

"Look, Fishlegs is right. I certainly wouldn't put anything like this past him, but even if Mildew did throw them in the ocean, they're not just gonna wash up on shore here."

"I found it!" Snotlout cried 

"Great!" I stopped myself in my tracks for a moment. "What were you saying?" She rolled her eyes at me, fiddling with her necklace absentmindedly. Snotlout held up a tiny club triumphantly.

"I haven't seen this since I was a baby." He hit his helmet a couple of times with it. "You never forget your first bludgeon." I sighed in defeat and turned around.

"Just keep looking." Reign's cocky smirk did nothing to help.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what were you saying?" she laughed.

"You should be looking."

"I did a circle of the island. Found nothing."

"Something could have changed."

"In the past ten seconds? I don't think so." She sighed. "They could have sunk to the bottom. If that happened, we're never getting them back." She flicked the shining silver up and down as got closer and sighed.

"I wish you'd tell me what you were thinking about."

"I told you, I still have to sort some things out for myself."

"You're _still_ doing that?" I was impatient to help her.

"I promise that I'll come to you when I'm ready."

"I'm telling you- I saw a pair of Zippleback feet in Mildew's house!" I insisted. "He must've used them to make the footprints of the dragon that supposedly stole the boots."

"Well then let's go have a look at them," my father suggested, though it was more of a way of saying he didn't believe me.

"Yeah, uh, there's gonna be a problem with that... I... um... throw them into the ocean."

"I know you're upset about the dragons, son, but you're gonna need evidence to accuse a man of high treason." I sighed and went out my front door, heading straight for where Reign lived. Not long after I knocked, the redhead answered me, stripped of her armor and sword and instead just wearing the clothes she wore underneath all the protection. She gently smiled at me and leaned against the door frame. 

"Do you wanna take a walk?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure." She turned to face into the house. "I'll be back soon!" She shut the door behind her and smiled at me. "Now I suppose it's _you_ who needs to tell me what's on his mind." I nodded.

"My dad still doesn't believe me about Mildew."

"To be honest, Hiccup, I don't think anyone really does. People around here need physical proof." I sighed.

"So you don't believe me either?"

"I never said that."

"Reign, we'll prove Mildew did it. We have to if we ever wanna see our dragons again."

" _Your_ dragons," she corrected. "I just hope they're okay..." Suddenly, she narrowed her eyelids and slightly pushed past me, staring off into the distance. I followed her gaze to see a Berkian ship in between two large rock pillars. "Why would one of our ships be anchoring there?" I pulled out my looking glass to see the ship more clearly, but what I saw was not one of ours. There was a distinct animal skull in front of the sail.

"It's _not_ one of our ships..." My eyes went wide. "I've gotta tell Dad. Come on!" I turned to run back home, and she followed close behind, hoping whomever was on that ship wouldn't reach us first. The sun had almost completely set by the time we got back, and as soon as we did, Reign threw open the doors. "Dad, there's a ship coming in around the other side of the island!" He turned his head and stood, coming closer to Reign and I. 

"What?"

"It's true. It almost looks like one of ours, but... there's something in front of the sail."

"A dragon skull, from the looks of it." My father's eyes turned to boulders before addressing Gobber. 

"Get everyone to gather in the Great Hall. _Now!"_ They rushed past Reign and I, leaving us flabbergasted for a moment.

"Something tells me your dad knows who that is..." We turned around and ran into the Great Hall, finding the first groups of people beginning to stream in, mumbling to each other. The mutters turned to shouts as everyone arrived, demanding to know what exactly was going on.

"This is no time to panic!" my dad shouted over everyone. "That's what the Outcasts are counting on!" Reign looked at me with a completely lost expression, having no idea who the Outcasts were.

"Stoick!" 

"Sven, did you get a count?"

"I saw thirty men at least," Sven panted. "All armed to the teeth." This was bad. We had virtually no way of fighting back.

"Without any weapons, we'll never be able to fight them head-on."

"No weapons! And Outcasts, on our shores, all thanks to your boy and his dragons!"

"They're already gone, Mildew. You can stop now." Reign tried her best to sound unimpressed, but I could tell she was pushing down her temper.

"I don't have time for this right now, Mildew. Mulch! You and Bucket gather up the others and the children, get them to Thor's Beach. They'll be safe in the caves there."

"We can help fight," Astrid insisted. "We've been trained as warriors."

"She may have been trained, but I was born a warrior." Snotlout slapped his chest. My dad handed her a small axe. 

"Take this. It was Alvin's. But go with the others. You can help protect them." I heard Reign huff from beside me.

"I can do that, too..." I looked at her before getting my father's attention.

"Let me go get the dragons. At least if we have them, Dad, we can defend ourselves." He sighed.

"Go. Take Reign with you." I nodded. "Keep him safe."

"Of course."

"But be careful. You don't know what Alvin is capable of." We nodded and headed out the doors.

"I need my sword." She rushed into her house and grabbed the shimmering blade, strapping it to her belt. "Okay, let's do this." We rounded the corner out of the village and looked down to the docks. Reign gasped as her gaze fell on a ship filled with Outcasts, pulling into a port. "Get back," she hissed, pulling me against the stone. After a few seconds we crept back into the village, but were halted in our tracks by lantern light coming down the stairs. As soon as we turned around, Outcasts rounded the corner. Thinking on instinct, I grabbed Reign's hand and dragged her under a hut, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as we rolled over to watch their feet. They passed by, seemingly looking for someone, and from behind us, there was shuddering. Reign and I glanced at each other, then slowly turned around, nearly jumping at the sight of a trembling Fishlegs.

"Aah! Fishlegs!"

"A-Alvin's looking for you," he stuttered out, pointing to me. "He's looking for 'the Dragon Conqueror.'" Reign's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not about to let him get you." She grabbed my hand and yanked me out from under the hut, following them to my house. They bust down the door and lingered inside for a little while before finally coming back out.

"How many hostages do you think a dragon conqueror is worth?" I turned back around and tried to think of a way out of this.

"Hiccup, what are we gonna do?" Fishlegs whispered.

"Go to the woods, and warn my father. I need to find a way to get ahead of Alvin and warn Mulch and the others." Fishlegs nodded and walked off, but just as I was about to, Reign grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"I'm going right behind you. Keep an eye out, listen closely. Do you hear me?" The intense look on her face sort of scared me into nodding. "Good. Let's go." As we made our way into the woods, the cover became dense enough that it became harder to see, so Reign gripped my hand tight and pulled me close against her. I blushed as she moved in front, dragging me right against her. Voices came from not far away, and she whipped around to press us against a tree until Alvin and his men passed by, with Bucket and Mulch as prisoners. "This way." We made our way over to a ledge, where Reign could hear something over the edge. She gently peered over and gasped, then out of nowhere, shoved me under the cover of trees, yanking out her sword as an Outcast came around and grabbed her. I emerged from the cover and peered over the ledge as she was thrust forward in front of Alvin, who towered above her.

"Now, now, who is this? Some spunky little redhead hiding among us?"

"Found her spying on us, Alvin. Maybe she's the Dragon Conqueror." Reign laughed.

"Oh, you wish you were good enough to capture the Dragon Conqueror." Alvin's chuckle was sickening. 

"You're not as smart as you look. Who's your Dragon Conqueror, eh?" He made his way behind her and yanked on some of her red hair. "Tell me." I couldn't take it.

"Leave her alone." I made my way down, closer to Alvin.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?" she demanded. I jumped down to stand in front of them.

"I'm the Dragon Conqueror." Alvin gaped for a moment before bursting out into laughter, along with the rest of his crew.

"You? Stoick's little embarrassment?"

"I drove the dragons from Berk. Look around. You don't see any on this island, do you?" His eyes wandered to the sky as I nodded at her, signaling her. She nodded back and smiled slightly, fingers brushing the silver disk with her fingertips. 

"I-It's true. All the dragons are afraid of him. He even conquered a Night Fury." Alvin got so close to my face I could smell the stench of death pouring from between his lips. 

"You're bluffing."

"Am I? Well, there's only one way to find out. Take me to Dragon Island." This was going perfectly.

"Fine." He turned to his people. "Don't let them go anywhere." I pointed at Reign.

"She comes with us." He roughly grabbed her by the arm, and I had to bite down every instinct to demand he let her go. Two more men grabbed onto me and shoved us both onto the boat. The men that had grabbed me trapped us against a wall behind spears, and gently, I reached out and grabbed her hand. The sun was coming up over the horizon as we got close to the island.

"I'm sure your father's told you plenty about your island's most feared enemy." 

"And who's that?" Reign piped up before I could say anything. "Oh, right, uh, you."

"No. Not so much." Alvin scoffed.

"Really? No word?"

"Nope."

"Nothing?"

"Nuh-uh?"

"Nothing about Alvin?"

"Nope." He groaned in frustration. "Look, Al." I pushed away the spears and got closer as Reign stared at me, mouth slightly agape. "All I care about is that if I do what I say, you will leave the people of Berk in peace."

"On me word, son." I knew Reign was skeptical, but we could both handle it on the likely chance that he reneged. 

A fog settled over the water and ground as the ship crashed onto the island. Eagerness soared in my chest as I thought of our dragons waiting for us, and Reign was poised to defend them if something happened. Alvin held a sword against our backs as he pushed us forward.

"I-Is the sword really necessary?" I stuttered. A familiar, low growl echoed from inside a dark cave, and from inside, Toothless lept out. 

"Odin's ghost... Is that a-"

"Night Fury. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself." I could feel Reign shooting me some sort of look, but I didn't take the time to glance over to see which one it was. The men raised their crossbows, but I quickly whipped around, panicking. "No, stop!" As soon as I realized what I was doing, I tried to come up with an excuse. "It, uh... it will only make him angrier. Watch and learn."

"By all means, proceed." He laughed and turned to his men. "I hope you're not squeamish. You're about to see a dragon eat a boy." I took a deep breath and calmly got closer to Toothless, just in time for him to jump on me and start to lick my face ecstatically.

"Hey, bud, I missed you, too." I stood and gently pushed him away. "But we'll catch up later. Right now, follow my lead." I pushed him closer to the rocks. "You cannot defeat me!" He bounded over to where I had left his saddle and extended his wings out slightly to keep them from seeing me grab it and gently sling it over his back. "I am the Dragon Conqueror!" I adjusted his tail, allowing Alvin to catch on, but just a bit too late.

"Hey, what are you doing with that dragon?" Toothless slowly turned around, and I caught the giant smile on Reign's face. 

"By the way, it's not really 'Dragon Conqueror.' It's Dragon Trainer. Now." Toothless jumped up and we soared over Alvin's head as he tried to swing at us. Boulders shot out on our left and right, and then the men on the ships fired a trifecta of arrows right at us. Just as they were about to hit, a blast of fire shot out, and Reign flew up beside me, steering Stormfly while Astrid rode as a passenger. "What took you so long?"

"Why? Did you miss me?" I turned red. "Oh, my- we were apart for, like, five seconds!"

"We need to get in closer!" I shouted as Fishlegs flew up beside us. From the water, a ship fired at Alvin's, splitting some of the boards. They began to pull away from the island, and we took our shot. "Now's our chance! Come on!" The others caught up as we dove straight down. I was readying myself to fire, when I heard screaming from the other side of the ship, looking over just in time to see Reign tumble onto the deck. "Reign!" She climbed up onto the side and waved.

"Hiccup!" I watched in horror as Alvin grabbed her and pulled her back. More arrows were fired as we came around the other side. 

"He's got Reign!" I flew around again as Hookfang shot flames into the water, which began to spread toward the boat.

"What are you doing?"

"You said fire!"

"I said _hold_ your fire!"

"See? You said it again!"

"No, he's right!" My dad yelled from below.

"Thank you!" 

"Fire again, all of you!" It was risky to do it with Reign still on the boat. I rolled it over in my mind for a moment, before I came up with something.

"Everyone, fire into the water!" We dove together and lit circles around the boat, not hitting it, but hopefully creating enough smoke to reduce their line of sight. I circled Toothless around a couple of times to throw them off, and maybe even freak them out, as the Night Fury let out his ominous cry. They tried their best to hit us, but under the layers of ash, we were practically invisible. Their boat collided with my dad's ship, allowing Reign to break out of Alvin's grasp and get to the edge of the vessel. "Reign, hop on!" She jumped up as Toothless' claws latched onto her arms, dangling her over the water.

"Uh, hey, the view down here is cool and all, but can you help me up?" Reign screamed. I leaned over and extended a hand down, gently easing her onto her part of Toothless' saddle.

"Now, Hiccup!" I heard my dad cry. "Burn the ship!"

"Here we go, guys! Hit 'em with everything you've got." The crew jumped overboard, abandoning ship in hopes of surviving. The boat caught fire in a large explosion as my father puled the Berkian ship away. As soon as the job was surely done, I landed Toothless, preparing for the scolding I knew I was about to receive from my dad.

"Hiccup, what were you thinking?" I patted Reign's hand to signal her to stay on Toothless, then hopped off and got closer to my towering father.

"I was thinking... all I had to do was get Toothless, and together, we'd be able to make things right." He stared at me for a while, then back at the burning ship, before turning back to me. 

"You did what you had to do. And... I'm proud of you, son." He looked over my shoulder at Reign. "Go ahead back to Berk, all three of you." Her sparkling eyes dazzled.

"Does that mean the dragons can come back?" He nodded. "Yes! Come on, Hiccup!" I climbed onto Toothless. As we took off, I could have sworn I heard Gobber say,

"Those two are gonna be the death of each other."

People whooped and cheered as we landed, and Reign and I followed my father, laughing at each other.

Of course, Mildew was grumbling about not getting his way.

"What are you cheering about? Don't you remember what these beasts have done?"

"I do." Mildew looked up at my father, slightly fearful. "They saved our lives." Mildew opened his mouth to argue, but quickly shut it again, allowing my father to walk away.

"And I may not be able to prove what you've done, but I will never forget it."

" _Either_ of us." Reign kept her piercing stare on him until we were far enough away that the point had been made.

_It's funny how, when attacked by your greatest enemy, you can change things overnight. I set out to prove that our dragons would never hurt us. What they proved, is that they will always protect us._


	7. (Reign)

There were two things that were constantly on my mind, but had been rising to the surface and bugging me more than usual. One that had become more relevant recently was Amethyst, the little purple-eyed Night Fury who had brought me to Berk. Her life tragically cut short, I had to sit and wonder how different things would be if she had been alive. Riding her had been a freeing feeling, one that you can come close to while riding on the back of someone else's dragon, but there's a piece of it that's just... missing.

So has Hiccup and I landed on the foggy docs on the back of Toothless, a sense of containment washed over me. Chief Stoick and some of his men were pulling an abandoned ship onto the shore with ropes.

"It's that rogue dragon again," Gobber grumbled. "That's the second boat this week he's destroyed."

"Well, we've lost another whole catch. We could've saved it if we'd gotten there sooner."

"I know how you could have gotten there sooner," Hiccup piped up, gesturing to Toothless. Chief Stoick turned away, agitation written all over his face. 

"Here we go again," he sighed, rolling his eyes.

"If you'd flown there on a dragon, you could have been there in five minutes instead of two hours." Hiccup followed closely behind his father, trying his best to convince him of the benefit of dragons. "And you might have been able to chase that rogue dragon away for good." His father pulled off a piece of wood that was barely hanging on, staring at it for a moment before casting it aside.

"As the chief of Berk, I do things the Viking way, not the dragon way," he insisted.

"Well, the 'Viking way' is costing us a lot of fish, and almost as many boats."

"The boy's got a point. If you were on a dragon, you could protect this island from a lot of things. Even Alvin." I leaned against Toothless and stared at the blanketed sky. Normally, it was a vibrant, intense blue, but around this time of year, fog and rain overtook the freedom above.

"Right! You-You could use a dragon to-"

"You're right, Gobber. Alvin knows we have dragons. He'll be back."

"You saw what those dragons did. They had Alvin on the run. Imagine if you were the one commanding them."

"I'm listening."

"Clearly not to me..." Hiccup muttered, not trying to be subtle.

"I can see it now. A proud chief ruling his domain aboard the fearsome, fire-breathing reptile." Gobber shuddered. "Gives me goosebumps."

"That's what I've been trying to-"

"Gobber's right." He turned to face Hiccup. "I need to learn how to fly. When do we start the lessons?" Hiccup crossed his arms in defiance.

"I don't know. Shouldn't we ask Gobber?"

"I don't really have a preference," the Viking shrugged, "but sooner is always better, don't you think?" Hiccup's shoulder's slumped and he turned around, trudging his way back to me and slumping down beside. Gently, his head leaned against my shoulder, and I patted his hand. 

"He's listening to you, Hiccup. It just might not feel like it at the moment." His father came over to us, and Hiccup and I quickly jumped apart, blushing a deep red. "We, uh, we should get going, right? Can't waste time!" I quickly hopped up, waiting for Hiccup to lead us where we needed to go. We walked side-by-side as I followed his steps. "So one of those things I've been thinking about-"

"Yes?" Hiccup's voice was made of eagerness, and I found myself laughing.

"I've been thinking about dragons." A look I couldn't pick apart fell over his forest eyes.

"What about them?" I took a deep breath.

"As much as I enjoy riding with you and Toothless, I miss riding my own dragon. There's this... undefinable freedom that you just don't get when you're not the one flying." I was bouncing on my toes now, my words becoming more passionate. "I know I can't have that same connection with another dragon that I had with Amethyst, but... I'm ready to get back in the sky, as a Dragon Rider!" I was glad that Hiccup laughed, as opposed to a negative reaction. 

"Maybe, in time, you'll be able to find a dragon that you'll want to ride." 

"Are you saying that you'll help me?"

"Once we deal with my dad... absolutely." I reached out and hugged him.

"Thank you!" We stopped in front of his house, and he began to go up the steps. 

"Wait here for a minute. I have to get something." Chief Stoick and I stood there in an awkward silence for a while, waiting for Hiccup to come back out with whatever he needed to grab.

"I've never thanked you, Reign," the chief suddenly spoke up. I looked at him with confusion. 

"For... for what?"

"For how happy you make Hiccup, and how much you help him. You're a natural warrior and a leader, Reign, and because of that, Berk is just a little bit safer."

"Maybe I was being trained to fight back where I came from. I still..." I gently touched my forehead and shook my head back and forth. "I'm still trying to remember things, though at this rate, I doubt most of them will ever come back. Only the traumatic things linger with me. I can't even remember the faces of my own father and mother." Though I chuckled, I was trying to keep my voice from breaking.

"If you ever remember where your home was, we'll help you find it."

"I doubt it's still there. That night I was taken, dragons were attacking us. I'm sure the entire place burnt to the ground." At that moment, Hiccup emerged from his house with a stirrup he had made to adjust to our students' feet.

"Let's get going." We made our way out to a small, flat-topped rock tower that was connected to Berk by a wooden bridge, conveniently situated right in front of the academy. It was where we taught our students how to fly dragons... though those students were typically children. Hiccup removed the stirrup meant for his metal foot and secured the new one to Toothless' saddle. "Okay, I've made a new stirrup, so you'll be able to control Toothless." The midnight dragon purred in curiosity. 

"You hear that? It's _me_ that's supposed to be controlling _you_." I shook my head at the chief's words.

"Oh, whoa, whoa, Dad. Before you get on a dragon, you've got to show him he can trust you."

"He already trusts me. I'm his chief!" Hiccup's shoulders dropped for what seemed like the millionth time today.

"Uh, it's-it's very simple. Just give me your hand." Hiccup tentatively extended his hand to his brazen father, who scoffed.

"I'm not here to hold hands, Hiccup." The boy's eyes bounced between his father's and my jade ones before reaching out and grabbing my hand. My cheeks flushed a bright red as he gently held it out to Toothless and just barely touched it against Toothless' smooth scales. The dragon nuzzled against my fingertips, causing me to giggle. As soon as the moment was over, Hiccup quickly let go of my hand and reached for his father's, holding it completely still just in front of Toothless' nose.

"It's okay, bud." He curiously sniffed it for a few seconds before nuzzling into his calloused palm. "Feel that?" Chief Stoick yanked his hand away.

"Yeah. Still dry and scaly." Hiccup and I sighed.

"That's not what I meant."

"Can I get on him now?" he whined. 

_Gods, he's worse than the five-year-olds._

Hiccup faked a smile and gestured to his dragon, allowing him to mount closer to the front, while Hiccup got on where I would normally sit, to help his father if he needed it.

"We'll start nice and slow. Just give him a little nudge, and-" Chief Stoick kicked Toothless in the side, causing the dragon to growl angrily, and they shot into the air. I grunted and rolled my eyes, sitting down and waiting for them to come back down. They were both stubborn, so stubborn that Hiccup and I would get into arguments on how to train the students, sometimes in the middle of lessons. But Hiccup knew how to set his own ambitions aside and compromise fairly quickly, whereas it took his father much longer to pull it together and feel willing to listen to and agree with others.

At first, I wasn't concerned. Toothless just straight-shot them into the air, not unlike what he had done the first time I rode him. I can still vividly remember the gripping fear and exhilaration that overtook me, causing me to grip so tightly to Hiccup that I'm sure I had bruised something. Chief Stoick, however, looked completely unafraid. Rather, he was leaning forward on Toothless, trying his best to steer him in the right directions. It wouldn't have been concerning, if not for the fact that Toothless' climb resulted in a sudden drop toward another rock tower. Luckily, the chief fanned out the dragon's tail and they soared right over it before swooping down behind it, out of my line of sight. I shook my head for what felt like the billionth time today, looking around at the grey clouds. There was still mild fog, but it had mostly lifted by this point, allowing for ease of sight when close to the ground.

"Reign!" 

I turned around to see a blonde with a big smile land next to me, jumping down from her Deadly Nadder.

"Hey, Astrid. What have you been up to?"

"You know, this and that," she shrugged. "I'm curious as to where you've been all day. Everyone's been wondering."

"Essentially, standing here and thinking." 

"Are you waiting for someone, or..." 

"Well, I _was_ here with Hiccup and his dad, but they took off to teach him how to fly Toothless, so something tells me I'll be here for a while if I decide to stay and wait." I took a glance at Stormfly and sighed. The though of flying dragons hadn't really gotten to me until recently, though I really couldn't explain why. 

"There's something else on your mind." I nodded and moved to sit on the ledge. After a bit of hesitation, Astrid sat down next to me and offered a supportive gaze. "Do you want to talk about it?" My hand flew to the necklace as I looked out over the cloudy horizon.

"I know I only had it for a short time, but... I miss that feeling of being able to fly my own dragon. As much as I love Toothless, there's just this alluring sense of freedom that comes with having your own. And I know I'll never be able to have the same bond with another dragon that I had with Amethyst, but I can at least have one of my own." I was finally able to look at Astrid. Her blue eyes were filled to the brim with understanding and support. "Hiccup said that once we were done dealing with his dad, he would help me find my own dragon, but I know that other things will come up, and my want for a dragon will get lost in oblivion. Soon, it'll just be one of those little dreams I hold onto." She smiled at me.

"I know I'm not Hiccup, but if you want help... I may be able to get you to flying a dragon. I mean, with what you know about training dragons and our combined fighting abilities, we'll be able to get you one. It's just a matter of finding them."

"Exactly, that's the issue. Finding a dragon could take days, weeks... maybe even months, depending on how far we have to go. And I'm not sure I completely trust Hiccup's ability to hold things together while I'm gone." We both laughed.

"So maybe this is the sort of thing the two of you do together. After all, flying for days, searching for a dragon... it all sounds _romantic._ " She lilted her voice teasingly on that last word, causing me to laugh and shove her.

"Don't give me any of that, Astrid, jeez. It's not."

"Okay, don't give me any of _that_. We both know that's not true. You and Hiccup are really important to each other." She stood up and offered me her hand, allowing me to have help getting up. 

"Maybe one day I'll understand what it all means."

The sun was setting the day after when I found him next. He watched his dad land with sad eyes, feeling pity for his drooping dragon.

"Same time tomorrow, Toothless?" His father chuckled as he hopped off the Night Fury. Hiccup glanced back at me for a moment before gesturing to his best friend.

"You see that? That's what it looks like to be ridden all day by a four hundred pound man."

"At least you got your dad on a dragon," I suggested, trying to find the optimism in the situation.

"Yeah, now I just need to figure out how to get him _off_ one."

"Why don't you just give him the old honey and the hatchet?" We started to make our way down the stone stairs. He raised an eyebrow at me, confused at what I meant, and for a second, I thought maybe that was only an expression from where I had come from. "You know, you tell him what he wants to hear- that's the honey part- before you hit him in the head with something he doesn't. You know, the hatchet." He smiled at me.

"Why does your advice always involve weapons?"

"Hey, I may not remember much of where I came from, but I know they were a-violent people. Guess it's just built into my blood."

"Well then, I suppose I'm grateful to your people."

"Hey, Reign!" I looked up to see Astrid dashing down the stairs.

"Hey, Astrid." I turned to Hiccup. "I'll see you around. Good luck with your dad." I followed her back to where we lived.

"Did you talk to him about your dragon at all?" 

"No. He was busy dealing with the fact that his father won't leave his own alone."

"Yeah, Fishlegs and I saw him fly over us earlier today. It was really weird..." We both laughed. 

"Suppose we're just all getting used to the chief flying on a dragon."

"I suppose so."

"The finest dragon species on the island. They're all represented right here, at this academy." The five dragon riders stood by their species, waiting to introduce what was so special about their's to the chief. Snotout stepped forward.

" _But_ the Monstrous Nightmare is the only one with the brawn and prestige for men of our stature. Hop on board. Feel the Monstrous Nightmare difference." I sighed as Snotlout led the chief over to his temperamental dragon. "And on those cold winter nights, its whole body heats up just enough to keep you cozy." Chief Stoick mounted the large reptile. "Let me warm him up for you."

"Uh, Snotlout-" The Viking flicked Hookfang between the nostrils, causing him to glow just a little bit. There was a horrid burning smell, and as soon as the chief realized what had happened, he shot up and jumped into the water trough.

"Now, should I put you down for one? They come in an assortment of colors." The chief growled and moved onto Astrid and Stormfly. The blonde girl shot a brief glance at me before launching into her description of the Deadly Nadder.

"Just because she's beautiful, people think she's not tough. But you should never underestimate me." My eyes widened. That was a _serious_ revelation that had just slipped out. "I mean her... um, uh... us."

"Well, she is a beauty." Chief Stoick stepped forward to rest his hand between her nostrils, like he did with Toothless, and she gasped.

"Be careful with-" Stormfly roared and whipped her tail around, shooting out spines that forced Chief Stoick to cower against the wall as the sharp spines pinned into the wall around him. I grunted and looked at Hiccup through my hand. This was _not_ going well.

"Monstrous Nightmare's looking a little better now, huh, chief?"

"Next!" It was the twins' turn, but they just ended up fighting with each other, which caused Barf and Belch to start fighting. As the Zippleback gas mixed with the sparks, there was a loud explosion, and so before the twins could make their point, the chief moved on. Fishlegs and Meatlug seemed like a safe bet.

"Let me tell you, what you're _really_ looking for is loyalty. A dragon who will be there for you, no matter what. The last face you see at night, and the first face you see in the morning. Warm in your bed when it's cold outside..." Chief Stoick, Hiccup, and I exchanged glances, not sure what to think of what was going on. "A shoulder to cry on when the world has turned its back on you. How could you not love a Gronkle?" Cautiously, Chief Stoick leaned closer to Fishlegs.

"Sorry, son, but I'm looking for a dragon, not a mother." He turned to his actual son. "I haven't seen anything that can hold a candle to a Night Fury." Toothless approached his owner and nuzzled his side.

"I haven't either. But Toothless is the only Night Fury on Berk, and he's mine."

"Stoick! Another boat is being attacked!" We all turned to see a flushed and out of breath Gobber racing into the academy. "It's the rogue dragon again.

"Let's go!" The chief and Hiccup put their feet down on Toothless' stirrup at the same time, before Hiccup looked up at his large father.

"Oh. What was I thinking?" He moved out of the way and reluctantly allowed his father to climb up onto his dragon first before getting on behind him. Hiccup muttered something under his breath before the two of them took off to deal with the dragon. As soon as I was sure they were gone and weren't going to circle back around, I approached Astrid.

"That's the other thing." I gestured up to the sky, as though they were right where I was looking. "There's not enough room for three people on Toothless, so if anyone ever needs rescuing or just a ride... I'm cast out." Astrid looked at her feet for a moment before smiling at me.

"Come on. I'll get you there. Maybe that rogue dragon could be yours." I snorted and shook my head.

"Those ideas of your's... Besides, it should be Chief Stoick's, above anything else."

"You need to fight for what you want once in a while, Reign." She hoisted me up onto Stormfly and we flew off to where the boat with the rogue dragon was just in time to see Chief Stoick pulled under by a-

"That's a Thunderdrum!" Astrid looked back at me. "Get me down there. Now!" She nodded and swooped down close enough so that I could get onto the boat and I leaned over the side with the others, trying to see the chief under the suddenly still surface. The Thunderdrum shot out of the water with Chief Stoick on it's nuzzle, crashing onto the deck as we all jumped out of the way.

"Oh, he's a fighter!" The chief punched the Thunderdrum between its eyes, sending it tumbling back. It roared and turned around, angrier than before. "It's got spikes!" Hiccup turned to me as it lunged at his father again.

"So how would you feel about a Thunderdrum?" I lowered my eyes at him.

" _This_ is what you're thinking about when your father's getting attacked?" He began to stutter. "Also, a Thunderdrum would be awesome." His dad threw a net over the Thunderdrum and held him down. Hiccup and I exchanged a glance, but before I could get closer, his father spoke up.

"This is the one, Hiccup! I've found my dragon! Now all you have to do is train him for me." Everyone looked at him in shock, Bucket and Mulch dropping their paddles. 

"Let's, uh... let's talk about this at home, Dad." The two of them hopped onto Toothless and flew away, carrying the Thunderdrum as Bucket and Mulch steered the ship back to the dock. As soon as we reached the shore, I jumped off the boat and ran to the Dragon Academy, arriving just as Hiccup and Chief Stoick closed the gates to detain the Thunderdrum. It growled and bore its teeth through the muzzle. I was about to approach them, when they started to have an interesting conversation.

"All right, let's get me on his back. Time's a-wasting." Hiccup stared at the Thunderdrum for a moment before turning to his dad.

"Dad, I think maybe... Reign should have the Thunderdrum."

"What? I wrangled this thing."

"I just think it would be better for her to have a dragon. After all, she's technically a Dragon Rider, and she's a teacher at the academy without her own dragon." I could feel a slight tint overcoming my cheeks, but instead of staying for the rest of the conversation, I turned and crossed the wooden bridge, sitting down on that same rock tower that made me feel trapped the day before. I could hear footsteps behind me, but I just stared out at the endless blue, barely shifting when a figure sat down beside me. I knew who it was without looking. "Hey, so... there's a Thunderdrum sitting in there waiting for you." I perked my head up and turned to him.

"What? Seriously?" He nodded and I smiled, almost immediately shooting up. "Let's go." We raced into the academy and stopped in front of the large gates containing the long dragon. Ever so cautiously, Hiccup opened the gates to allow the dragon out. It cowered for a few seconds as I extended my hand out, then gently began to creep forward. "That's it... come here. I won't hurt you." It got mere inches away from my hand, when out of nowhere it flinched and tried to bite off my fingertips. I screamed, startling the Thunderdrum, and jumped toward Hiccup, grabbing onto him as it flew close to the wire ceiling and took off. 

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking down at me with worry. 

"Yeah, I'm just... rattled, is all." After taking a few second to calm myself, I pushed away from Hiccup and looked out the doors. "Let's go after that dragon." Hiccup whistled for Toothless and the two of us climbed on, flying around every corner of Berk to try and find that poor Thunderdrum. We got the others to help us, and by the time the sun was setting, we still hadn't found it. "All right, we have to fan out and cover every part of the island."

"Ruffnut and Tuffnut, you take-"

"You take the West side."

"Got it."

"Snotlout, to the North side."

"Come on, Fishlegs, we'll take the East side," Astrid suggested. 

"But-But it's allergy season."

"Fishlegs..."

"Not me. It's her." He gestured down to Meatlug, who already looked pretty tired." The two of them flew away and I leaned closer to Hiccup.

"We have to find that poor Thunderdrum. It must be so scared. And what was with that muzzle?"

"Well, it was _supposed_ to be to keep you from getting anything bit off, but-"

"Nothing actually came off, Hiccup. It could've been worse if that muzzle hadn't been there. I just feel bad the poor thing has to wear it."

"Just remember to be careful when you approach him. I don't want some sort of accident actually happening." I saw a flash of blue near a cave just as he disappeared down into it. 

"There he is." Hiccup gently steered Toothless down, staring the Thunderdrum straight in the face. Cautiously, Hiccup and I climbed off the Night Fury, who was poised and ready to protect us if necessary. It scurried forward and Toothless roared.

"Settle down, bud." He got closer to stand with his shoulder touching mine from behind. "If you want, I-"

"Let me do this, Hiccup." I looked back at him before taking nearly silent steps toward the bright blue dragon. It leered and growled as though trying to fend me off. I managed to get a glimpse over its flat form to see another, purple Thunderdrum, a hole seared into its wing. "There's another Thunderdrum in there." Hiccup followed my gaze.

"It's hurt." Everything suddenly dawned on me.

"He's protecting his friend. That's why he's been taking all those fish." I turned to Hiccup. "Go get the others, and tell your father and Gobber to get ready."

"Reign, I can't just leave you here."

"Go!" I felt bad for snapping at him, but I needed to handle this on my own. Before he got onto Toothless and flew away, he reached out and squeezed my hand, shocking me a little bit.

"You can do this." As soon as they were gone, I turned back to the leering Thunderdrum.

"All right... just you and me, big fella." I tossed the sword from my belt to make me seem less intimidating, and held my trembling hand out as I crept over to get close to the dragon. It snapped its jaws shut at first, and after I took a deep breath, I felt a little braver. "I want to help you. Trust me." The Thunderdrum almost seemed to understand, and it backed up a little bit, defenses falling. Just as I was about to touch it, it roared again, looking at something behind me. My heart rose into my head as I slowly turned around to see red eyes coming through the fog that had settled. A small group of hungry boars was coming straight for us. "They smell the blood of your wounded friend."

I reached down to grab my sword, and just as one of them jumped at me, I swung and knocked it back. Three more ran at me from the front, but one managed to get me from my back, momentarily disorienting me until I managed to get it off. The Thunderdrum hit two that managed to get close to the injured dragon with its tail, and the final one managed to jump on me, knocking me down. I struggled as I tried to pry the heavy boar off of me, while it was putting in its best effort to take a bite out of my face. Just as one of my hands slipped, the Thunderdrum hit the creature off of me, allowing me to get up and keep them away. However, more were coming in from all around us, their eyes removing all subtlety from their approach.

I glanced down at the dragon, and this time, it gave me a different look, one that appeared determined to help. My fear replaced by adrenaline, I reached my hand out to it, and this time, it nuzzled into my palm, finally trusting me. It was a surprisingly soft and sweet moment, and as much as I would have loved to stand there and soak in it, the boars were getting even closer now. Quickly, I loosened the screws on the muzzle and somehow managed to get it off, despite it being _extremely_ heavy. I climbed onto the dragon, who hovered in the air before shooting a loud, sonic blast that sent the boars flying backward.

"Look at us. We're bonding!" There was relief as Hiccup and the others landed. As soon as he saw what was going on, a sense of pride washed over his face, beaming at me before astonishment and confusion took over.

"What... happened?" I shrugged casually.

"Eh, battled a few boars, did a little bonding." That smile came back over his face. "I know he's no Amethyst, but... we're already getting pretty close to each other. Now, come on. We have to get that injured Thunderdrum to safety.' Hiccup and I managed to coax it out of the cave and get it onto a tarp, with Toothless and the Thunderdrum gripped as we flew back, dropping it off with Chief Stoick and Gobber. "Take good care of him. She's..." I looked down at Chief Stoick, seeing some sort of longing as he looked up at the blue Thunderdrum. "She'll be my dragon." Gently, I landed the blue Thunderdrum and approached the chief. "So long as you promise to be patient and gentle with him, I think this Thunderdrum has your name on it." He smiled at me.

"I'll take good care of him, Reign." I nodded and knelt down beside the purple Thunderdrum, who looked at me with big, trusting eyes. Gently, I reached out to touch between her nostrils, and she nuzzled without hesitation. "As for you, we'll start training once you're fully healed..." I struggled for a name for a moment, then managed to come up with something. "...Shriek."


	8. (Hiccup)

_Measuring up to a Viking father isn't easy. Especially when that Viking father is the chief of your village. So, when you get a chance to prove yourself, you jump on it._

The shield I was holding was beginning to weigh my arm down, after holding it for so many hours. In the dim light of the Great Hall, Reign strained her eyes over a sketch she was doing, occasionally looking up at Toothless. When she did, my Night Fury would stick his tongue out and wagged his tail back and forth, causing her to smile.

"Shoulders back, chin up, son." I slightly jumped at my dad's sudden pat on my shoulder, quickly obeying what he asked me to do. "This portrait's gonna hang in this hall forever." Out of nowhere, Bucket began to grumble in frustration before marching over to my father and I. He dusted something off his shoulders, and attempted to adjust me before crying out.

"I can't do this!" He tried to storm out, but ended up hitting his bucket against a column.

"I've never seen Bucket like this," I whispered.

"Well, when he lost half his brain, he suddenly became an artist." Bucket blew a bunch of powder onto the wood before smearing it around with his hands.

"So he can actually paint?" My eyes flickered over to Reign in the corner, thinking deep down that she would do a _much_ better job.

"Oh, he's the best. He's gonna do us proud, son. This portrait's gonna take its place alongside all the other chiefs and their sons." He gestured to the most recent one, a proud smile falling onto his face. "This is the only picture of my father and me. It was a great day. And so is this." I turned around to smile at my dad, who had a sentimental look in his eyes. "Chest out, son." Quickly, I puffed out my chest and held my breath for a second, before letting out a sigh.

"Yeah, this is as out as it goes, dad."

"Very well, then." Bucket continued painting for a little while longer before declaring that he was finished. I handed the shield to my father and raced over to Reign. She smiled and stood, her jade eyes sparkling. 

"Are you ready?"

"Yes!" She put her sketchbook into a pocket on her belt and she grabbed my hand, practically dragging me down to the Dragon Academy. Her Thunderdrum, Shriek, was finally healed enough to start training, and I had promised Reign that I would start teaching her today. 

"Okay, okay, calm down," I laughed, opening the large gates. Shriek purred, looking at her confused, before slowly padding forward, sniffing and staring down Reign with her yellow eyes. She relaxed her posture, shoulders drooping as her hand gently floated up, hovering in the air until Shriek crawled closer and nuzzled into her hand, purring at her new rider.

"Hi there, girl." Reign giggled, turning to look down at her. 

"We should really get to the Great Hall soon. There's a village dinner tonight, and of course I want you to be there." She whipped around to look at me. "I-I mean _we_ want you to be there. S-So we should really-" I halted my stuttering when I realized the look she was giving me was that same one Toothless did when he wanted more fish. "What?" I laughed.

"This is the first time I've gotten to be with her since we brought her in. I wanna spend more time with her." Shriek purred and nuzzled into Reign's side, and I couldn't keep back my smile. 

"Fine, fine. Here." I went over to where we stored everything and grabbed a large saddle that would likely fit around a Thunderdrum, adjusting it around Shriek with little protest from the dragon. "Go ahead and hop on. I'm right here." With absolutely no hesitation, she mounted Shriek, then nudged her to take off as soon as I was on. "Okay, now just keep her steady, and give a gentle twist when you want her to turn."

I could hear a chuckle from in front of me, and with a sudden yank, Shriek sharply twisted to the right, then proceeded to climb through the clouds. My heart was still leaping out of my chest when she leveled her dragon out just above the cloud cover, barely noticing that I was clinging to her for dear life. It wasn't until Reign let out a triumphant laugh and I felt her shift slightly that I managed to open my eyes, taking in the sight of the brightest smile on her face, laughing and practically bursting with joy.

"This is what I missed!" she screamed, hair slapping against her shoulder. "Oh, the freedom is just palpable."

"Y-Yeah, that's great, but we should really get back now. We can't miss that dinner." Reign huffed and gently lowered Shriek back into the Dragon Academy, regret tracing her features as she locked away the vibrant Thunderdrum.

"Sorry, girl." A part of me felt guilty, but before I could change my mind, Reign had started toward the Great Hall, leaving me to follow in suit. Our friends soon gathered around the two of us, staring at the different portraits on the wall. The soft light of the torches just barely illuminated the paintings, but we could make out the figures on the wood. "Look at all these great leaders," Reign gushed. "And tomorrow, your picture's gonna be hanging right next to them." Snotlout snorted. 

"There goes the neighborhood." Reign made a disapproving face at Snotlout before the seven of us made our way down the line.

"You're part of an elite group now, my friend. And one of the few who wasn't killed by their successor."

"So far." The twins cackled behind me, and I tried to stifle my surprise as much as possible.

"I guess... it is a pretty big deal. I mean, it's like being a part of history, right?"

"History of goofballs. What a clown."

"Envy doesn't look good on you, Snotlout." He flashed a glare at Reign before stepping away from the portraits.

" _That_ is Hamish the First. He was our richest and most revered leader-and his son, Hamish the Second."

"I'm Hamish the First," Snotlout mocked. "Bow down before me and kiss my pointy shoes." Ruff and Tuff chuckled and made their way over to the cocky boy, and Ruff bent down to act like she was about to kiss Snotlout's foot before shoving him over, causing him to roll across her brother's back. They laughed at him and high-fived, when suddenly, the portrait fell of the wall and landed in front of Snotlout, trapping him against the wall.

"Wha- look what you did to the Hamishes!" Fishlegs picked up the portrait as he scolded the three mischief makers, kissing it before placing it back on the wall. Just before it was secured, a piece of paper fluttered into Snotlout's hands, coming loose from the back of the round wood.

"What's that?"

"It's probably mine!" Tuff tried to snatch the paper from Snotlout's hands, but he jerked them away before the blonde could get his greasy fingers on it.

"It looks like some sort of map... with poetry." The paper was suddenly snatched from Snotlout's hands.

"I'll take that." Gobber held the paper tight in his hand, giving us all a look that cautioned us against what we had just found.

"Hey, that's my poetry map!"

"Oh... these were supposed to be destroyed..."

"Why?" Reign asked, trying to snatch it from Gobber. "What's so special about it?"

"Men lost their limbs, their lives, and their minds trying to find that treasure." She and I looked at each other, confused. I'd never heard anything about a treasure before.

"Oh, I've heard about this! The treasure of Hamish the First. His son buried him with it and left this map. They say the clues are so complicated, that only a brilliant mind could decipher them."

"Stoick and I even went after this treasure. It lured us high up into the mountains and a blinding snowstorm. We fought like badgers over the meaning of the clues. We were lucky to make it back with our lives, and our friendship in tact. For your own good, kids, forget you ever saw this." As soon as Gobber walked away, the five others looked at each other with eager faces. It was clear they wanted to go after the treasure anyway, but the look on Reign's face was one of caution, and she quickly changed the subject.

"So... the big reveal's tomorrow." She turned to me, seemingly shutting out the others and their eagerness. "No offense, but I'm not so sure how well I trust Bucket's artistic skills." I couldn't help but smile at her. 

"I'm fairly certain they couldn't be as good as yours." She turned a bright red and looked down at her feet, shuffling them slightly before shooting her gaze up, red hair bouncing before settling right back into place.

"That reminds me! I, uh- I finished that drawing I've been working on. Here." She reached into one of her pouches and pulled out a piece of paper, slightly thin from erasures of many mistakes and countless creases from constant folding. I smiled at her as I balanced it between my fingertips.

"Thanks, Reign." She brushed some of the fire growing out of her head behind her ear before grabbing onto my free hand. 

"Come on, I'm starving."

I maintained eye contact with Reign as the people crowding around us buzzed. I was both eager and nervous to see not only how the portrait turned out, but how my father and the people of Berk would react. She flashed me a smile that was both reassuring and goofy, causing me to laugh and eliciting a few confused stares.

"Here it comes, son." My dad patted my shoulder. " _This_ is our legacy." Bucket took that as his cue, and pulled away the cloth covering the portrait. People gasped as they looked at what was painted on the circle of wood. But while people, including my father, were awed, I had to get a closer look at the portrait, gasping as I looked at the image of me that didn't bear as much resemblance as it should. 

"Hey, Bucket? Why- Why am I so... like that?" I gestured to the portrait.

"Why is the sky blue? Why do I have a bucket on me head? We'll never know the answers." My dad made his way over and clapped Bucket on the shoulder.

"You did a great job, Bucket. Don't you think so, son?" I looked back at the portrait again, and disappointment washed over me. Did my dad not want me to be remembered for the way I was?

"But it's not me," I protested.

"Sure it is. It's you, but... you know, bigger, stronger."

"Now _that's_ the son of a chief." I could feel the discouragement growing as I looked at the portrait again.

"You see what I mean?" As the three men shook hands, I did my best to keep my expression from souring and backed away, turning to get as far from the Great Hall as possible. I could hear other footsteps, and knew they were Reign's but I didn't want to stop until I felt like I was far enough away.

"Hiccup!" I finally stopped and allowed her to catch up. She didn't say anything at first, instead just letting me talk.

"Unbelievable. My father likes that painting better than the real me. I mean, think about it. E-Even my name! You know it's Viking tradition to call the runt of the litter a hiccup."

"Come on, little hiccup." We looked over to see one of the shepherds pick up the littlest sheep as it bounded into his arms. "Oh, hey Hiccup."

"See? What do I have to do to get my father to accept me?" Her fingertips gently rested on my shoulder.

"He already does accept you. He just accepts the painting more." There was sadness in her tone as she realized just what she was saying, and what it meant. "But, hey-" Her hand wandered into my own and squeezed it. "Not everyone likes the portrait better."

"Sure, I guess." We found Fishlegs standing suspiciously outside Gobber's smithy. "What are you doing out here?"

"Uh, nothing." He became twitchy and nervous. "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" I sighed.

"Okay... Okay, where are they?"

"Who? Who-hoo? Who-hoo?" Reign and I rolled our eyes at each other before making our way around the side of the smithy, finding the others just as Snotlout climbed out a window.

"What are you doing?" she sighed. Snotlout held up a rolled up parchment triumphantly. 

"I've got the map, we're finding that treasure. And _you_ are a horrible lookout."

"You heard what Gobber said. The bravest warriors in history have died trying to find that treasure," Astrid protested.

"Yeah, and I'm next." It was a bit disturbing how proud Snotlout sounded of that.

"Well, I personally would like to live to see my next birthday," Reign quipped.

"We'll be legends. They'll sing songs about us."

"You'll be dead," she snapped. "Come on, guys! Not even Stoick could find it." Pieces suddenly fit together and clicked in my mind.

"You're right, he couldn't." I snatched the paper from Snotlout. "Give me that map."

"Finally, someone is making sense." Everyone but Reign crowded around me.

"All right, where do we start?"

"Are you serious?" I looked her in her simmering, green eyes.

"Think about it, Reign. My father couldn't find that treasure. What-What would he say if I did something even Stoick the Vast couldn't do." I knew deep down, she couldn't resist an adventure, but the worrying, mother-like side of her was prevailing. "How great would that be?"

"You're gonna go after this no matter what I say, right?" She made her way closer to me, and I could feel my heart rate starting to go up, slightly afraid. "So, yeah, pretty great."

"You're... not gonna give me a hard time about this?"

"Oh, I'm gonna give you a hard time, every step of the way." She pressed her finger against my chest before pushing me slightly. "Besides, I can't let you go with just them." She looked past me to Ruff and Tuff, who were shoving each other. "As capable as Astrid is..."

"Harder. I said I want to see stars." Ruffnut punched her brother on the side of his head as hard as she could, knocking him unconscious. 

"Okay. It looks like the map leads us to this spot."

"The riddles are clues to what we're supposed to find." The map was suddenly snatched from my grip.

"Blah blah blah, where's the treasure?" Snotlout looked over the words written on the map. "Hmm... Clue number one: 'where the land meets the sea, in the crook of the master's knee, that's where your search will be... gin.'"

"That doesn't sound so brilliant."

"Okay, think, think, think, think, think... think. I forgot what I was thinking."

"The master's knee..." I studied the picture closer. "I've seen that before. Come on." I grabbed Reign's hand and led everyone back into the Great Hall, where we stood before the picture of Hamish and his son. "Look, right there, where his knee bends is pointing to this spot on the beach. That's where we start." Everyone got on their dragons, including Reign, whose dragon looked just as happy as her to be flying. We all flew down to the point on the beach, landing on the soft sand but not dismounting. "Okay, listen up, you guys. 'You will see the see that's been sown, where water turns to bone.'"

"Water turns to bone? Hamish isn't even trying to make sense."

"No... Water turns to bone... water turns to bone..." I rolled it over in my head. Suddenly, I came up with something. "He must mean ice! The glacier!"

"We have to go up in the cold?" Reign whined. I chuckled at her. 

"The quicker we go, the quicker we get it over with." She groaned, but agreed to follow the rest of us up to the glacier. The glistening ice cascaded down from the mountain, into the snow. "Toothless should come with us, just in case, but the rest of the dragons stay out here." Everyone nodded, and we made our way into the glacier. I could hear Reign shuddering and shaking, but she chose not to complain. It wasn't until we were a quarter of the way through that Astrid pointed out something obvious.

"There's something in there."

"You mean aside from the dead body?"

"I bet that guy saw it too..." I looked at the map and read the next line of text.

"'Call on Magne, you'll go astray. Freya, though, will show the way.'"

"I get it." Snotlout dropped himself onto the ice and began to smash his helmet against the glassy surface, creating cracks. There was a strange rumbling, and in an instant, I threw Snotlout out of the way as a large, spiked weapon swung down and crashed against the ice.

"Look out!" Our hearts jumped again as it swung back up. "We can't break the ice. That's what Magne means. He's the god of strength."

"That's right! And Freya... is the goddess of fire!"

"And that's exactly what we're going to use." I looked up at my Night Fury, perched on a ledge the ice made above us. "Toothless, you know what to do!" He sprung off and landed next to me, big eyes asking if he should start. "Light it up." Toothless opened his mouth and allowed white fire to melt the spot where Snotlout had been banging his helmet, revealing the object lying beneath the ice. I tried to pick it up, but it was smoldering to the touch from having just been exposed to fire, and once I removed it, the glacier shook slightly.

"That's it? This is the treasure?" I turned the object over in my fingers, awe written all over my face.

"No, it can't be. But I bet this'll lead us to it." Tuffnut snatched it from me and stared at it, holding the object inches in front of his face.

"Take us to the treasure." I heard Reign scoff between shivers.

"Let me know if it answers." I took it back from him.

"This is just the first piece." Suddenly, the glacier began to tremble as furiously as Reign, and cracks formed in the surface below us, threatening to bury us below the surface if they broke.

"Toothless!" I jumped onto my Night Fury, and the others followed, quickly making our way out of the glacier before something awful happened. As we flew away, I watched it crumble, blood and adrenaline pumping. We landed so that we could take a few moments to compose ourselves and catch our breaths, before I pulled the map back out and read the next clue. "'At the edge of the world, amidst the raging sea, in the serpent's mouth lies another key.'"

"Serpents? I hate serpents. Those are reptiles, right?"

"You do realize you're sitting on one?" Tuffnut cried out and flinched in disgust.

"Hey, that cloud looks like a snake," Snotlout observed.

"Yeah, and in five minutes, it'll look like a bunny," Reign shot back.

"Well, wait a minute. He might be onto something. In the mouth lies the key." I looked out at an oddly shaped island, holding up the map to compare. Sure enough, they matched almost perfectly. "Look, right there." I pointed out so everyone else could see what I was pointing at. "Toothless, let's go."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. A-Are you crazy?"Fishlegs stuttered. "You can't take a Night Fury with a wingspan of forty eight feet and expect him to hover in winds like that! You'll be killed!" An idea popped into my head.

"What's the wingspan of Meatlug?" Fishlegs' eyes bounced from his loyal dragon to me. "Reign, you still carry that rope around?" Her expression was stern. 

"Hiccup, I understand what you're trying to prove here, but I'm not about to help get you one step closer to killed. I don't want to risk something like that." 

"I'm not gonna get killed," I sighed.

"You always say that, and what happens, you almost get killed."

"But I'm still here." She grunted in frustration, but unclasped the rope from her belt and tossed it over. Fishlegs tied it around his dragon's waist, and I grabbed on tight, casting a brief glance at Reign before Fishlegs and Meatlug took off. "Keep her steady." The winds got stronger, blowing me back as I gripped the rope tighter. 

"Oh, Thor. Do we really need that treasure? Isn't our friendship treasure enough?" Still, he got me to the mouth of the dragon rock and lowered me down and level with the mouth. I could see something glinting the the sunlight, wedged between the rocks. My arms weren't long enough to reach, so I tried to swing in order to get closer, but I didn't have enough momentum.

"I can't reach it."

"Okay, we tried, A for effort." I wasn't about to give up.

"Hold on!" I slid myself further down the rope, so that I was nearly dangling by one hand, and Fishlegs lowered Meatlug closer. I reached out my peg-leg and tried to pick it up with the flat part meant to serve as a foot. It kept falling every time, until I managed to press it down against the rock and flip it up. It teetered a little bit before I was able to kick it into the air and catch it in my hand. "I got it!" Fishlegs turned Meatlug back around to get back to the others. "How's that for a hiccup?" I threw Reign back her rope as soon as she landed, and I noticed her hands were trembling, and her pallid face was emphasizing her freckles more than usual. 

As our dragons walked along, I managed to figure out how the two pieces fit together. I turned to Reign and held them out so she could look at the pieces.

"Look, they fit together. We must be on the right track."

"Hiccup, what are you going to do with your part of the treasure?" Ruffnut asked me.

"I'm not really here for the treasure," I admitted.

"Great. I get his share."

"You know you don't have to do this, right?" I looked back over at Reign to see her eyes sparkling with sympathy.

"Yeah, try telling that to my dad." I could tell Reign was trying to think of something to say back to that, but before she could, we reached a circle of rocks set in an odd formation. I looked down at the map, then back up at the rocks. "This must be the spot. Why else would anybody build a wall in the middle of the woods?"

"Uh, duh. To keep out the other trees." 

"Tuffnut, trees don't... never mind."

"Well, I got another one for you. 'The world is right when stars align. When not in sync, the danger you'll find.'"

"Stars? I'm not waiting around here until night!"

"I don't think he means actual stars. I mean, the water didn't really turn to bone."

"Well, what do you think it means, Hiccup?"

"Why are you asking him? Maybe I know." Reign shot Snotlout a look through half-lidded, unamused eyes, and I raised an eyebrow at him. "I said maybe. Turns out, I don't."

"I'm shocked." Fishlegs approached the rocks and ran his hands over them.

"Huh. There's shapes carved into each of these bricks." The rest of us hopped off our dragons and joined him as I glued my eyes to the map.

"Keep a look out for anything that looks like a star."

"Got one!" Snotlout yanked on the brick confidently, but as soon as it was out as far as it would go, the wall began to tremble, and a few pebbles tumbled down from above. "Hookfang!" We looked over to see the Monstrous Nightmare staring absentmindedly at a drifting leaf. "Hookfang!" That second cry got Hookfang's attention, and he rushed over, pushing the brick back into place, allowing everything to stop trembling.

"Okay... it says 'in sync.' That means there must be another star." 

"Over here!" Reign pointed to another star carving higher up.

"I think we're supposed to pull them out at the same time. Ruff, Tuff?" Their Zippleback pulled out the two star bricks perfectly in sync, and everyone held their breath. After a few moments, nothing happened, and the tension faded as the bricks opened up to reveal a cavern, hidden in the wall.

"Wow."

"This is amazing."

"Whoa." Toothless suddenly let out a distressed roar and tried to dig at the door as it slammed shut behind us.

"Oh, man." Reign and I glanced at each other, as though trying to read each other's minds, before I nodded my head deeper down the hall, and everyone followed at a far distance behind Reign and I. The two of us grabbed onto torches hanging on the wall and allowed Toothless to light them. We came across a circular room at the end of the hall, and suddenly, the temperature increased.

"Ugh, it's so hot in here. Is anybody else hot, because I'm hot?"

"I know. I'm sweating like a dragon at an eel party."

"Uh guys? Is it just me, or is the floor moving?" We all looked down to see that not only did it look like the floor was slithering, but it was a bright yellow in large patches. I lowered my torch closer to the floor, and it suddenly scattered with a high-pitched squeal.

"Uh, Toothless, can you give me some light?" Toothless shot a plasma blast into the air, and as soon as it exploded, it revealed thousands of little dragons all across the floor.

"That's why it's so hot in here! Fireworm dragons!" 

"Whoa..." Tuffnut reached down and tried to pick up one that was bouncing by his feet.

"Don't! Their skin burns hotter than the sun." He picked it up anyway.

"Yeah, but how hot can the sun really be?" The little Fireworm ignited itself, causing Tuff to scream and drop it. "Ouch! Ow! Aah!" All of the Fireworms began to light themselves, and I felt a searing pain rush through my real foot as a couple tried to crawl up my leg.

"Aah!" I shook them off and Toothless hit them with a plasma blast. The dragons that could breath fire rounded themselves around the pit of Fireworms and breathed fire down in it, causing the little dragons to scatter and revealing the final keys.

"Grab 'em, and let's go!"

"No, it's a choice. Listen to this, guys. 'Something pure, and something strong. Look first to yourself, and you won't go wrong.'" I looked around at each of the keys on the pedestal.

"Strong... that must be the one made of iron."

"But iron's not pure," Astrid protested. "Take the gold." The fires our dragons had lit to scare away the Fireworms were starting to go out, and they were getting closer to the pit again. 

"It's getting really hard to breathe," Reign gasped.

"That's what happens when you're getting roasted alive. You might want to make a decision soon, Hiccup, we don't have much time." I backed up behind Toothless as the Fireworms got closer, and he kept trying to fend them off with his fire as I tried to make a decision.

"'Look to yourself.'" I made my way over to the iron one and stared at it.

"Careful, it might be a trap," Reign cautioned. I hesitated a few moments, making sure this was really the key I wanted to pick, before snatching it from its pedestal. The Fireworms began to scatter on their own, and in a split second, the ground collapsed beneath me. I tried to reach out and grab Reign's outstretched hand, but I fell too short, and instead kept tumbling down into the darkness. Toothless managed to catch me before I hit the rock below- which likely would have been fatal- and help me land safely. But the world above was so far away, and rocks had caved in to make sure we couldn't get back up.

"We have to find a way out of here," I sighed, brushing myself off as Toothless purred, making sure I was unharmed. "Give us some light, bud?" He looked around the room before firing at a rock, the light calling my attention to a strange hole on the floor with a peg and holes in it. I stared at it for a few moments, trying to make sense of what could possibly fit in there, until my mind wandered to the pieces of the key I had been picking up. "I wonder..." I reached into the pouch on Toothless' saddle and fit the cool metal together before placing the assembled pieces into the hole. They clicked into place, and gently, I turned the key to my right, my nerves on edge after falling through the floor. Nothing happened, and for a moment, I let my guard down, until a pedestal suddenly rose from the ground, causing me to jump back against Toothless. He pushed me forward and directed my attention to my left, where the wall was opening up to reveal another passageway.

Reign would have loved this.

As I tried to make my way forward, Toothless roared in protest, but there was no way I was about to turn back now.

"Well, we've come this far." Though he resisted at first, eventually, Toothless followed behind me. The passage wasn't very long, but there was a slope to climb, making for a bit of difficulty. "Look." Just across a bridge was a light, shining down on something that was surrounded by objects of gold. As we got across, it revealed itself to be a scroll, and gently, I picked it up and read what had been written on the outside of it. "'This treasure was passed down from father to son. I leave it to you, the next worthy one. For only a hiccup could get this far. From one to another, be proud of who you are.'" I couldn't fight the smile that curled onto my face as I unrolled the paper. On it was that drawing of Hamish the First and his son, but... Hamish the Second was much scrawnier. I couldn't believe it. "Hamish the Second was a hiccup!" I looked back at Toothless. "Just like me. He knew only another one of us could find this place." I rolled up the scroll, and allowed my eyes to scan the shimmering, gold figurines. "Look at all this stuff." 

That was the moment when my attitude changed, the moment when I started to see things through a different lens.

"I guess being a hiccup isn't such a bad thing after all." In front of my eyes, the old platform lowered, bringing up two others. "Wow, so Hamish-two really loved pedestals." That's when I noticed more words carved into the stone below me. "Huh, and apparently riddles. 'In between the body and mind, a choice must be made on what you find. At this moment, you must look to yourself, as only one path will give you true wealth.' Ugh..." I barely reacted as two rock spires crashed onto the bridge behind me. "Oh, come on, Hamish. You're killing me." The ceiling began to crumble down in chunks, and I realized I had to make a decision _now_. 

My eyes bounced between the two pedestals, looking at what was on them. One held a large, heavy hammer, while the other gently supported a pillowy feather. Even though it was likely only a short while before Toothless and I were crushed, I took a few seconds to think about it before darting to one of the pedestals and snatching the object resting on it. The rest of the ceiling caved, but Toothless and I remained unharmed as I held the feather in the air, a proud smile on my face. 

The bright sunlight of above-ground revealed three figures standing in front of five others: my dad, Gobber, and Reign, each with different expressions. 

"Son!" My dad raced to me with a big smile on his face, relieved I was alive. I hadn't even considered that he would try and follow us out here, much less be able to find us. Though I suppose we did leave quite the trail of carnage on nature.

"Hey, Dad." I ran up the mound of dirt, and we met in the middle. It wasn't until I reached him that I realized that could have been the last time I'd ever seen my dad, and I jumped up as he hugged me tight and spun me. But, of course, the crushing reality of just how tight that hug was hit me pretty quickly. "Uh, Dad, I can't breathe." As soon as he set me down, the others raced over, each exclaiming with their own relief, as well. In fact, everyone seemed pretty relieved.

"What happened?" Fishlegs asked me eagerly.

"Blah, blah, blah, who cares? Where's the treasure?" I unfurled the scroll to reveal the _real_ portrait of Hamish and his father.

"This is Hamish's real son." My dad looked dumbfounded, before his face relaxed into a smile.

"That's not treasure," Snotlout whined.

"To a father, it is." He knelt down and held my shoulders. "I never meant to make you feel like you had to do something like this."

"I know that... but I had to do it. For myself." I hugged my dad again, but when I opened my eyes, I saw the one person who wasn't relieved; a certain red haired, green eyed Viking leaned against a tree, staring at the bark and tracing her fingers along it, the chain of her necklace twisted and turned.

Reign was worried, and maybe a little angry. 

Cautiously, I made my way to stand next to her, and the others gave us some space.

"Reign, I-"

"I like you the way you are, Hiccup?" I was caught off guard by what she had just said.

"Wh-What?"

"I know that now you've had this big realization that it's okay you don't look like all those other sons in the portraits- including your own- but I've never wanted to see the you in that picture. I like this you, as pathetic as you may have thought you were. Because you're not a jerk, and you care so much more about the little things in life." Her tone was starting to get aggressive, and when she moved, I flinched in fear that she would hit me. She tended to get pretty violent when she was angry.

But instead, she wrapped her arms tight around me and sighed.

"Please don't change, Hiccup Haddock." I smiled and hugged her back, and just before we all got on our dragons to head home, she reached up and gently kissed my cheek, leaving me red and blushing.

"Those two..." my dad muttered, shaking his head.

_I've spent most of my life trying to prove to my dad that I could be his kind of Viking. As it turns out, I already was._


	9. (Reign)

_Berk is a small island in the middle of nowhere. So when we get a taste of something new, we tend to go a little overboard. Unfortunately, new isn't always better._

A smile made its way onto my face as I set my hands on the back of Hiccup's chair, gazing down at his sketch of Toothless he was doing with ink and a quill. Despite having limited resources, the drawing was pretty spectacular, and shockingly detailed. Hiccup looked up at me and smiled before reaching over to dip his quill into the ink well. However, when he brought the feather back out, all that was on the tip was the crusty remains of the previous dip into the well.

"Huh..." He picked it up and shook it, only to find nothing came out. His Night Fury looked at us with curious, playful eyes, purring as though to ask why Hiccup had stopped.

"Well..." I gently grabbed the drawing from him. "It's pretty phenomenal so far, Hiccup."

"It's too bad I'll have to wait to finish it."

"That's why I use charcoal." I handed the drawing back to him before crossing the room and setting myself next to Toothless. He purred an nuzzled into my hand, causing me to chuckle as I scratched under his chin. "There's a pretty large supply of it here on Berk."

"Details are hard with charcoal, though." Hiccup set his supplies down and sat next to me on the floor.

"Not if you whittle it down to the right size. That's why you do the big picture first, and then work your way down." I looked at the wall above Hiccup's desk to see the drawing I had done of him and I pinned to the wall, right in the center of everything. "That's how I did that picture." I looked back at Hiccup to see him both smiling and staring at me in awe. 

"That's still my favorite picture." I blushed and tucked some of my red hair behind my ear: a nervous habit I didn't try to hide. 

"I thought it was pretty important to capture the moment I met Toothless." I scratched the Night Fury again and giggled as he nearly collapsed in happiness. "And the first time I discovered I wanted to be a Dragon Rider, rather than hunter." Without even thinking about it, I gently set my hand on Hiccup's. "All thanks to you." As I stared at the flecks in his eyes, I could feel our faces leaning closer together.

"Hiccup! Reign! Trader Johann is here!" Quickly. the two of us pulled away and stood up. 

"That, uh-"

"Maybe you can get more ink." The smile on his face shifted.

"Oh, right! Yeah, let's go look." He grabbed one of his cloth bags and sung it over his shoulder, then I followed him down the stairs and through the crowd of people, down to the docks where a new boat had anchored itself. A wooden plank was set down so that everyone could get on the boat and find what they wanted.

"Ah, Berk! My favorite of all the islands I travel to!" the trader declared in a loud, extravagant voice.

"Where have you been to this time, Trader Johann?" Bucket asked eagerly, sounding like a child on Snoggletog.

"Ah, Bucket. The things I've seen, the people I've met. I'd need a week to regale you, but alas, we have limited time to conduct our business together." He climbed up onto a crate so that he could address everyone. "Whatever it is you're looking for, I can assure you, you'll find it here!"

That was the peoples' cue to make their way onto Johann's boat and start trading for what they desired. I usually only traded with Johann whenever I needed something- seeing as how he typically wanted something seemingly impossible in return-, but the others on Berk seemed to go absolutely nuts for Johann's goods.

"It's all mine. I call dibs on everything," Snotlout declared.

"I've got food of all sorts, spices, exotic animals-"

"Ooh, something's moving." Tuffnut moved a little closer to a squirming bag, when it suddenly shot out spines, causing him to jump back to avoid impalement.

"-works of art, jewelry, not to mention knowledge."

"Trader Johann, is this your only book on Botany?"

"Yes, Mister Fishlegs. Why, it was given to me by the author himself." Fishlegs removed a necklace from his pouch.

"Would you accept this necklace? It's made from baby dragons' teeth."

"Fair enough, Mister Fishlegs."

"Ooh, I'm even better looking than I thought," Snotlout preened to his reflection.

"You okay there Gobber?" Astrid asked the Viking as he rubbed some sort of cloth against his face.

"I'm better than okay," he declared. "I'm in heaven!" I turned as Hiccup stood, a jar of ink in his hands.

"Oh, that's pure squid ink, Hiccup. Wrestled from the colossal squid of the Northern waters." Hiccup opened his bag and retrieved one of the items he had to trade.

"Well, how about this spyglass? You know, I made it myself." Johann took it and glanced through the clear glass.

"I know. You've given me five just like it. Unfortunately, I've only got the two eyes. What else have you got?" He handed the spyglass back, and Hiccup removed the next item.

"What do you think of this winch? Eh? It'll help you pull up your gangplank." Johann spun the little wheel in his fingers.

"A welcome tool for a working man's ailing shoulder. Consider it done." Trader Johann moving away revealed Chief Stoick, who was wildly swinging a sword around. 

"Wow. Another sword. Just what we need." Hiccup's tone suggested otherwise. 

"If you must know, it's not for me. I'm off to my yearly meeting with the Chief of the Shivering Shores. The last man who showed up without a gift left without a head." He said that in a disturbingly chipper tone. "Johann, what will you take in trade?"

"Stoick! It is but your grace I desire when my humble ship passes by Berk.” Chief Stoick laughed.

"You'll always be welcome on our shores."

Having concluded his business with Johann, Chief Stoick got off the ship and mounted his Thunderdrum. “I’ll be back in five days. Oh, what am I saying? I’ll be back in two, tanks to Thornado.” As if on command, ‘Thornado’ roared and shot out a sonic boom, causing Hiccup and I to cover our ears. His Thunderdrum was so much rowdier than mine.

“So, you finally named him. Thornado, huh?” I couldn’t tell whether Hiccup thought the name was stupid, or that it suited the dragon.

“That’s right! Because he has the power of Thor, and the strength of a tornado! Besides, it’s the only thing he’ll answer to. Turns out, he can be quite stubborn!”

“Can’t imagine where he gets that from.”

“Look who’s talking!” I sassed, grin ever-present on my face.

“Up, Thornado.” With that, the Chief took off, heading to this meeting.

“Ah, men riding dragons. What a magnificent sight.”

“Johann!” I grimaced. I knew that voice anywhere, but it wasn’t one I ever found myself wanting to hear.

“Mildew!”

Trader Johann, on the other hand, sounded completely thrilled. Though I suppose any opportunity for business would excite him.

“Did you bring what I want?”

“Always straight to the point. I like that.” Johann barely opened one of the many woven baskets stacked against the ship, only revealing the contents to Mildew. This, of course, only caused me to become more suspicious. I already didn’t trust them as individuals, but together? They seemed incredibly dangerous.

“Ah!”

“I assume you brought my cabbage?” Mildew tapped a basket at his feet with his cane, drawing Trader Johann’s attention to the leafy greens inside. He picked it up and gave the contents a good sniff, crinkling his nose to confirm to anyone around him that they had that signature cabbage smell.

“Take these to my house,” Mildew ordered one of the villagers. As soon as he had turned away, a little Terrible Terror climbed up onto the pile of baskets, curious as to what was inside. 

“Do you want anything, Reign?” My attention was diverted from the suspicious contents of baskets to Hiccup and his smile, eager to be a typical man and provide if necessary.

“No, thanks,” I shrugged, not trying to fire a shot to his ego.

“Now, now, now, little fella. That’s not for you.” I turned back to the baskets and Terrible Terror to see Trader Johann attempting to shoo the poor dragon away.

Instead of listening, the Terror snapped at Johann’s fingers, grazing their skin and barely cutting them.

“Ow! Feisty one, isn’t he?” In response to this, Johan grabbed onto the little dragon and threw him off the secret merchandise.

One second, Toothless was crouched and glaring at Johann, a deep growl in his throat, and the next, he shot forward in a blur, pinning the trader closer to the side of the ship. Johann cowered in fear, still having trouble grasping the idea that dragons were friends.

“Stay. Distance, please.”

“Toothless! No.” Hiccup stepped in front of his dragon and pushed him back slightly.

“Sorry, Johann. He’s just being protective.” The man let out a sigh of relief.

That’s when Hiccup noticed that, in his hurry, Toothless had broken the jar of ink. Disappointment crossed his face as he picked up one of the shattered pieces and turned it in his fingers.

“Oh, it’s gone...”

“Oh, sorry, lad. That was my last one. But rest assured, I’ll find that collosal squid and wrestle you another bottle.”

“Oh, Toothless.” Hiccup shook his head as Toothless purred, wondering what was wrong.

“Hey, he was just protecting that Terror. It’s okay.” I scratched the top of the Night Fury’s head. “Come on, let’s head back. I think I have some extra charcoal you can use.” I took his hand and led him and Toothless away from Trader Johann’s boat, more intending to go to the academy and check on Shriek than get Hiccup a new drawing utensil.

That could wait.

“So, how come you never get anything from Trader Johann whenever he shows up?” Hiccup inquired. I knew Johann was some sort of big deal around here, but it was hard for me to trust him.

“I don’t completely believe the stories he tells about where his products came from, so I can only assume they’re not as authentic as he claims.”

“Well, the stories _do_ seem pretty out there, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re slightly falsified. But someone who travels as much as he does is bound to have some great stories to tell.” I only shrugged. 

“I suppose.”

The others had already brought what they had traded for back to the academy, but the thing that drew you eye were the giant statues Ruffnut and Tuffnut had gotten. After struggling to get one of them to the center of the former arena, they allowed everyone to be awed by it.

“Oh, wow. How does that look?”

“Beautiful.”

Or, just the twins, Hiccup, and myself could take interest. I made my way over to where Shriek was being kept while she was in her training phases and let her out, showering her with affection to apologize for having to keep her in a cage.

“You guys got these for the academy?”

“Yeah. We got them from Trader Johann. We had to give him our great-grandfather’s skull. We got to keep his clavicle.” I made a face in disgust. Why would they keep those sort of things just lying around?

“Wow! You know, it’s about time you guys started taking some pride in this place.”

“That was awesome! I wanna take a shot!”

Snotlout climbed onto Hookfang and ordered him to take a shot at the statue. Next, Stormfly whipped around and ejected some of her tail spikes, which ended up sticking out of the statue’s side. Meatlug took her own shot, followed by Shriek, who sent out a little boom that pinned the statue against the wall. Toothless was eager to take his turn, but as soon as he readied a blast, he sneezed, and the purple shot ended up flying against the wall, followed by another that nearly hit Snotlout.

“Well, that’s strange...” I slowly pulled away from Shriek and approached Toothless, who was furiously pawing at his nostrils as though something was wrong.

“Hey! Could you have your dragon cover his mouth when he sneezes?” Snotlout demanded.

“I ju- I’m sorry. But that’s never happened before.” He sneezed again and looked at Hiccup and I with sad eyes.

“We should get him back,” I sternly suggested. “Do you think he feels well enough to fly? I know we could walk, but it’ll be faster.”

“We’ll see what happens.” I climbed onto Shriek’s back as Hiccup got on his Night Fury, and the two of us started toward his home. As we got closer, I noticed blue speckles on bushes I hadn’t seen before. Nonetheless, the color was stunning.

“Look at those flowers! They’re beautiful!” Suddenly, Toothless sneezed again, and began to veer all over the place out of nowhere. “Hey! What are you doing?”

“It’s not me!” The Night Fury began to buck and sneeze wildly. “Whoa!” My heart jumped as Hiccup was thrown to the ground, his dragon collapsed in a heap beside him. Urgently, I landed Shriek and raced over to Hiccup, bending down to make sure he wasn’t hurt. At least, not too severely. 

The boy managed to get up on his own, but Toothless remained in place, laying there and occasionally emitting what seemed like a distressed roar.

“Toothless. You okay, bud?” Hiccup asked, as though he could respond. “Toothless?” He found himself having to lift the dragon’s head off the ground. “Maybe he’s got a cold... or something.” Hiccup looked up at me. “Do dragons get colds?” 

My attention was turned away by the weak purr of a Terrible Terror. One struggled to fly for a moment, then collapsed down, unable to fly anymore.

“Whoa, look at that,” I pointed out, not really answeing his question. Feeling sympathy for the poor thing, I reached down and cradled it like a baby. “Well, whatever it is, he’s got it, too.” Hiccup removed himself from Toothless’ side to investigate the Terror, looking closely at its eyes. There was something peculiar about this, but what could be the cause?

I plugged my nose at the stench of the putrid liquid being boiled. If you weren’t already sick, whatever Gobber was making would do the trick. He had claimed it was some sort of remedy, but upon further inspection, I was skeptical.

“This’ll fix him right up,” Gobber declared, removing the cauldron from the fire.

“What is that?”

“It’s best not to ask.”

“Oh, good,” I muttered before leaning my head again a post supporting the staircase in Hiccup’s house.

“Whatever you do, don’t touch it.” At that moment, Toothless let out another sneeze, splattering some of the suspicious liquid onto Gobber’s shirt.

“Ah! Well, _that’s_ ruined. I’ll never get that yak-dung vomit again.” I didn’t have time to sit there and think about what Gobber had just said, because the door flew open, and there stood Astrid, out of breath with panicked eyes.

“Hiccup, Reign, you have to see this.” Hiccup and I looked at each other for a second before shooting up and following her out the door. 

The sight was both mesmerizing for its chaos, and severely alarming. What had once been an epidemic only befalling Toothless and a Terrible Terror had now spread to seemingly every dragon on Berk. The dragons dipped, dove, spun, and swerved before falling onto the ground. 

“Help her, Hiccup!” a distressed Fishlegs called from the back of Meatlug as she spun out of control. “She’s sick!”

“It’s spreading to all the dragons. Uh...” Hiccup turned around to consult Gobber. “How do we stop this?” The stocky Viking only thought for a moment.

“Gothi! She’ll know what to do!”

“We should bring Toothless, so she’ll have a cooperative dragon to examine.” Hiccup nodded, rushing back into his house to help his dragon out to the best of his ability. Toothless moved lethargically, as though every step took all his strength, but with Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and my help we managed to get him to Gothi’s, where she began examining him. Afraid of the result, Hiccup reached out for my hand, and I gently squeezed it, hoping to comfort him. 

After a few agonizingly slow minutes, Gothi pulled away from Toothless and picked up a stack of bones, shaking them in her hands before tossing them onto the stone.

“I’ve heard Gothi can tell you when you’re gonna die, just by looking at your fingernails,” Astrid declared aloud. 

Ever the paranoid person, Fishlegs took a glance at his own.

“That’s just an old wives’ tale,” Gobber scoffed. “She looks at your tongue.”

The old woman began to scrawl symbols in the dirt, seeing as that was the only way she could communicate. Gobber leaned over to translate as she went along, since he was the only one of us who could interpret Gothi’s drawings.

“She says they’re reacting to something. Like they’re allergic.”

“Allergic? To what?” Gothi began to draw again.

“... to a moose wearing boots.” I shook my head. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find.” Gothi violently whapped him with her stick. “I didn’t think that was right.” He studied the drawings again. “Ah! They’re allergic to something new that’s just come to the island. Though, that still looks like a moose.” She hit him again.

“Okay, ‘new’ and ‘moose,’ I get. But ‘island’ and ‘boots?’”

“There are a lot of new things on the island,” Astrid reminded us. “Trader Johann was just here.”

“She says to get rid of everything immediately. Otherwise, it’s just going to get worse. The dragons are going to get sicker.”

The people were, obviously, not pleased that they had to get rid of all of their brand new things from Trader Johann, but it was what had to be done to protect the dragons. One by one, people tossed their brand new purchases over the edge, grumbling in protest as they did.

"I know this is hard, guys, but I promise you you're doing a good thing. You're helping the dragons." 

"It's the least we can do for them." Snotlout passed by us with a defeated and mournful gaze, staring at himself in the mirror he had bought. 

"Goodbye, beautiful." He tossed it over, drawing my attention to Fishlegs, who was furiously scanning the book he had bought.

"What are you doing?" Ruffnut asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "Throw it in!"

"I'm sorry, but this botany book is a real page-turner! I've got to know how it ends." Before he could finish it, Ruff snatched it from his hands and tossed it. I'd been so focused on the scene there, that I hadn't really noticed that Hiccup had wandered over to Gobber.

"I don't see you throwing anything in the pile, and I thought I saw you buy something from Trader Johann."

"He did," I pointed out, remembering what I had seen. "He bought silk."

"Hand it over, Gobber."

"Can't do that, Hiccup. It's, uh, currently in use." He leaned closer to whisper. "It's my skivvies. They're glorious!" Hiccup and I both made slightly disgusted faces, then his changed to a hardened stare to make the Viking crack. "Fine." He hobbled his way behind a rock, and a few seconds later, purple silk was tossed into the air and gracefully fluttered into the pit.

"I could've gone my whole life without seeing that."

"Me, too." I sighed, watching the people throw their things in. 

"Hey, so, uh... I know you have Shriek now, and all, but if Toothless is feeling better tomorrow, do you want to, uh-" I chuckled. Hiccup always got so nervous. "Go on a flight, on him? Like we used to?" I smirked.

"Why, Hiccup Haddock, do you miss me riding with you and Toothless?"

"Uh, well, you know, Toothless misses you too." I snickered as Astrid approached me.

"Sure, Hiccup. And I'd love to." I turned away to walk with Astrid, feeling slightly guilty that I'd neglected her for so long, because of all the time I'd been spending with Hiccup.

"Well, I'd offer we race, but Stormfly is down for the count, so there goes that idea."

"Last I checked on her, Shriek was fine. Maybe the two of us can just fly on her?"

"Or we could just train? I know we don't fight dragons anymore, but there are still bad people out there, and we need to defend ourselves." As much as I hated to admit it, Astrid had a point. Berk was even more of a target now than it had been before we tamed dragons. They were prizes to other people, and we had a high stock. 

"Let me check on Shriek first, okay?" She nodded as we reached our home, going around the back to check on my lone survivor.

Or at least, that's what she _was_. 

Her eyes were drooping as she struggled to keep them open, and she was unable to stand. Her usually loud, destructive cries were muted to pathetic, needy mewls.

"No..." I kneeled down and stroked her side. She was a kindhearted dragon, and she didn't deserve this. I looked up at Astrid with a new determination on my face. "Getting rid of those goods better have worked." I gently leaned my head against her large side, hoping to provide some comfort. "I-I should probably stay with her. I'm sorry." I expected Astrid to walk away and find the rest of the group, but instead, she sat down next to me and hugged my shoulders.

"Then I'll stay with her, too."

The next morning, Astrid went inside to check on Stormfly, while I loyally remained by Shriek's side. She was a poor, sick dragon, but she was _my_ dragon, and I wasn't about to abandon her.

"Reign." I looked up at Hiccup approaching me. "Toothless isn't any better."

"Neither is Shriek," I sighed, "and I'm willing to bet none of the others' dragons are healed, either."

"This doesn't make any sense. None of it does." He slumped himself down next to me, and I carefully placed a hand on his head.

"Let's go meet with the others and figure this out together. We work best when we use all seven of our minds." He didn't say a word, rather just stood and followed me to gather up the group so that we could talk everything through.

"We got rid of everything from Trader Johann," Fishlegs whined, "but our dragons still aren't getting better. They're getting worse."

"L-Let's make a list." I could tell Hiccup was trying as hard as he could to be rational right now, but when Toothless was in danger, he didn't always think things through completely. "Maybe there's somebody who bought something from Trader Johann, but hasn't thrown it into the pit."

"Yeah. There must've been somebody who didn't wanna give up what they bought." Astrid almost sounded like she had someone in mind.

"If I find out who is holding back, I'm gonna be so mad. Hookfang was so sick, I was up all night scraping dragon barf off our walls."

"Yeah? Well, our's is dead!" I shook my head. Tuffnut was so dramatic, but he clearly tricked the others, because they gasped. "Just kidding, but he's really not that fun anymore."

"He just sits there. He won't blow anything up." Our attentions were diverted by a loud, familiar roar. Chief Stoick climbed off Thornado and made his way over to our little congregation of problem solvers.

"Hiccup! Put this in the Book of Dragons: never fly on a stomach of under cooked mutton. The Shivering Shores will never be the same." Reality started to kick back in for the Chief, and he looked around at all of our grim expressions, and the couple of collapsed dragons. "What is it, Hiccup? What's wrong?"

"It's the dragons, Dad," he spat out urgently. "They're, uh-"

"They're sick," I finished, "and getting worse."

"Every dragon?" I nodded.

"Toothless was the first one, then it was a Terrible Terror. Now it's all of them." I looked down at my feet before turning Hiccup slightly to face me. "I'm going to go back to Shriek. She needs me to be there for her."

"I should probably get back to Toothless, anyways."

"You know where to find me if anything new happens." I reached down and squeezed his hands before making my way back to my purple Thunderdrum. "Hey, girl." I sat down beside her again, resuming my gentle stroking, "Can I tell you something?" She looked at me with half-lidded eyes. "I'm scared I'm going to lose you," I admitted. "I had a dragon before you, named Amethyst. She was one of the last Night Furies, and the one who brought me here, and... I lost her, to the Red Death. I'm sure you know who that is." I leaned down and rested my head against her side. "I don't want to lose another dragon."

Night had fallen when Hiccup rushed to find me. 

"Reign, Thornado got sick, too." I shot up. He hadn't been here that long, but he was already sick? 

"Let's go." I got up and followed Hiccup to where his dad and Fishlegs were waiting for us.

"Well, this is where I landed."

"Okay, look around for anything unusual." We started to split off in four different directions, hoping desperately to find the source.

"Does that count?" Fishlegs pointed to Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who were charging at each other to crash their heads together.

"Hm. Nothing unusual here." I looked over at Hiccup to see his expression changed to one of confusion. "What is it?" He said nothing, so I followed his gaze to see another Terrible Terror rubbing its nose against the bushes of blue flowers that had started popping up not that long ago. Hiccup made his way over and picked one.

"Uh, does anybody remember seeing these before?"

"They were here when I got back." Fishlegs snatched it from his hands.

"It looks an awful lot like the Blue Oleander. I recognize it from my botany book, chapter eight."

"Is there anything specific you can remember?"

"They're very beautiful, very soft, perennial..." his expression shifted, "and poisonous to reptiles." My eyes went wide.

"Which means poisonous to dragons!" Fishlegs quickly tossed the flower from his hands. "This is serious. Uh, did your book say anything about a cure?"

"I don't know, because _somebody_ made me throw it in a pit."

"Well then go back and dig it up!" He rushed off.

"I don't understand. Where did they even come from?" I was as confused as Astrid was.

"Mildew." We looked over at Tuffnut. "I saw him plant them the other night?" 

"And you didn't think that was strange?" Astrid growled.

"No. Well, maybe. I don't know, quit pressuring me!" Thornado sneezed, sending out a boom that caused us to duck.

"Let's go pay the old man a visit." Hiccup and I followed Chief Stoick up to Mildew's hut, where he opened the door with disturbing grace. "Mildew, did you plant flowers in the village?" He looked at the three of us for a moment, clearly deciding to comply.

"Yes."

"And were you aware that they're poisonous to dragons?" He stuttered for a moment.

"So what if I planted some flowers? The town square's never looked better," the old man protested. "I was merely trying to spread some beauty and happiness."

"Since when have you cared about 'beauty' or 'happiness?'"

"You did this." Hiccup pointed an accusing finger at him, causing Mildew to stutter.

"Well, I had no inkling, Stoick, that these flowers had special properties. Which, true, I'm no friend of the dragon, but, in this case, on my life, I was not trying to harm them." The chief shook his head before ushering Hiccup and I out the door.

"Let's go." We decided to meet back at Gobber's smithy. Everyone sat around, hoping Fishlegs would come back soon.

"Hey." I looked up to see Hiccup attempting to smile at me.

"Hi..." With a few moments of hesitation, Hiccup sat down beside me and placed his hand on mine.

"I'm scared, too."

"I know." I looked at him. "But I also know that we'll get through this together, because that's what we do." That made him smile, just as Fishlegs came back with the answers.

"Fishlegs, you found your botany book!"

"What does it say?" That's when we all noticed the tear tracks running down his face. He opened the book, but no words came out.

"Calm down, breathe."

"My botany book says that Blue Oleander is poisonous to reptiles, and dragons are reptiles!"

"We know that. Was there anything else?" He put away the small book and pulled out a larger one.

"Not in here, but I remembered the Book of Dragons talked about a dragon that feeds on the Blue Oleander." He opened it to the corresponding page. "It's called the Scauldron. In a perfect world, if it eats the flowers, maybe its venom can be used as an antidote, like snakes and spiders. But alas, we do not live in a perfect world. Look, the Scauldron has no venom."

"No, but it looks cool." Tuff had the worst timing in the world

"Don't you understand? The book says no venom!"

"Okay, got it. No venom. Gah-ly, write it on your forehead."

"That book is wrong." We all turned to Gobber emerging from his hut. "I've dealt with a Scauldron before. They're sixty feet long, razor sharp teeth. It'll shoot boiling water that melts the flesh off your bones. The Scauldron has no fear, no conscious, but what Scauldron _does_ have is venom, and lots of it."

"I'm out," Tuffnut declared.

"I'm with him." His sister followed him away.

"All right. You guys stay here and take care of the dragons." My heart rate went up. He couldn't be serious...

"What are you going to do?" Fishlegs asked quietly.

"Dad, Gobber, let's go find ourselves a Scauldron."

"I thought you'd never ask." Hiccup and Chief Stoick went to say goodbye to their dragons before heading off to gather this supposed venom, but all the while, my hands shook and I paced. As soon as Hiccup emerged from his home, I stood in front of him.

"There's no talking you out of this, is there?" I whispered.

"Reign, this is the only way to save our dragons. I have to take this chance."

"I don't like the idea of you going out on a boat to subdue an aggressive, sixty-foot dragon, Hiccup."

"Reign, think of Shriek... and Toothless." I sighed. 

"Let me come with you."

"Oh, no, no, no. I can take the risk with myself, but not with you."

"Well, the same goes here." I looked down at my hands, before into his eyes again. "I said we work best when we're a team."

"And this is how we're working as a team. I need you to take care of the dragons. You're the only one I would trust with a responsibility like this." I took his hands, realizing there was no way out of this. 

"You better come back unscathed." I moved past him to reach the dragons and help attend to them as best as possible. Hookfang was still throwing up, Stormfly shot spines nonstop, Barf and Belch didn't move, and Meatlug had horrible gas. But, I tended to all of them, because that was my job. 

By this point, it had been a few hours since Hiccup, Gobber, Chief Stoick, and Mildew had left. Just as I was moving between Snotlout's hut and Hiccup's, I heard footsteps behind me. 

"Reign!" 

Chief Stoick was carrying Mildew over his shoulder, who seemed completely subdued. Gobber was hobbling, but otherwise seemed completely fine. And thankfully, so was Hiccup.

"Hiccup..." I sighed, rushing to him and hugging him. "So, did you do it? Did you get the venom." He scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, kind of?" I raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?

Hiccup had an arm on my waist as we listened to Mildew scream in agony, gathered around Gobber's smithy. I didn't want to know what had happened on that boat, but if Mildew was the key to getting the venom that would cure our dragons, then so be it.

"Can you believe we're all just standing around, waiting for something to come out of Mildew's butt?" Of course, all of this fascinated the twins, but why wouldn't it? 

"This is one of those things you can spare me the details on." Mildew let out an agonized scream.

"That's the sound of our dragons getting better," Astrid joked. The mood certainly had lightened, now that we had hope of a cure, but everyone was still wary.

"I've seen a Nadder's spine slice through a man's eyeball like a grape," Gobber mused as he exited his smithy. "I watched my own arm get devoured by a Monstrous Nightmare. But never, _never_ , have I seen anything as disturbing as that old man's bare behind." He held out a cup to Hiccup. "Here, take this to your dragon. I'm going into the forest to scream."

"Way to take one for the team, Gobber." I followed Hiccup around as we administered the cure to the dragons, then helped Shriek to his home and laid down beside Hiccup against Toothless. We just sat there in silence, comforting the dragon. At one point, the chief came upstairs, clearly waiting for some sort of positive response. "Relax, Dad. It's gonna be fine."

He turned and went back out the door to be with Thornado. I sighed and shifted my head from Toothless' side to Hiccup's chest and sighed, waiting for something, _anything,_ to happen. This had to work, otherwise there was no other option. No other hope left... 

And that's when Toothless began to stir. Hiccup and I gently moved off of the gentle dragon to allow him room. The Night Fury shook his head, then looked at Hiccup and I with curious eyes.

"Toothless?" He bounded over to Hiccup and began licking his face, covering him in spittle. Nonetheless, the two of us smiled wide. My grin got even wider as Shriek nuzzled my back, returning to her affectionate self. 

"Shriek..." Hiccup and I got up from the floor and led our dragons outside.

"Dad, they're coming around!" Thornado opened his eyes and looked up at the chief with pure affection.

"Thornado!" the chief chuckled.

"How ya feelin', bud?" Hiccup stroked between Toothless' nostrils, before he shot out a plasma blast into the air. Shriek roared, then her and Toothless began to play with each other.

"Good to have you back, bud." My eyes wandered to Hiccup, and I wrapped my arms around him.

"You did it." He shook his head.

"We did it, Reign." I punched his shoulder.

"You're so cheesy."

_A deadly flower, a venomous sea dragon, and Mildew's butt: three things I never thought any of us would ever have to deal with in the same day. But that just shows that Hiccup will do anything for the dragons._


	10. (Hiccup)

The wind stung my face slightly as I shot forward for the final lap around Berk. I had been training Toothless to get a lot faster, but someone had been catching up to us. This made no sense, as Toothless was a Night Fury, so I had to assert that he was the fastest dragon we had.

And to do that, we'd need to go just a little bit faster.

"Come on, bud." Toothless let out a roar and sped up, getting us back to the Dragon Academy where everyone as eagerly waiting for us to come back. Of course, no one was as eager as I was, hoping maybe for once, I could bring this friendly competition to an end.

"So, how'd we do?"

"Technically, you're still the fastest," Fishlegs informed me. "But someone- and I won't mention who- is gaining significant ground." I sighed. Who could still be beating me? My eyes wandered around the group, trying to pick out a face that gave me a sign.

"Don't look at us," Tuffnut dismissed as he and his sister battered their helmets against the other's. On instinct, the next person I looked at what Reign, who offered me a telling smirk as she stroked her affectionate Thunderdrum. 

"How can that be?" I asked aloud, completely confused and utterly dumbfounded. Shriek was a Thunderdrum, and they weren't known for being fast. Loud, yes, but fast? Never. "How can Toothless be getting slower?"

"He's not," Fishlegs stepped in. "Shriek's getting faster."

"Oh really?" I asked the redhead with the Thunderdrum teasingly. "Is that so? Anything you'd like to share, Reign?"

"Let's just say I'm experimenting with what she eats," Reign answered coyly. "Apparently, it's working... and making you mad." She rested her hands on her hips and glared at me, jade eyes sparkling with mischief. Shriek sniffled for a few seconds before letting out a burp that fired a blast, which dissipated right by Reign's feet. 

"You can be so cocky sometimes." 

From above us, there was loud, triumphant whooping as Hookfang turned circles in the air before flying through the gate of the Dragon Academy and landing on the rock. Snotlout seemed to be in some sort of cheery haze as he shouted at us from the back of his Monstrous Nightmare. 

"You will not believe what I just found." Everyone looked at each other, not sure what to think. Sometimes, when Snotlout said he had found something, we would almost get lit on fire or put into some sort of power. In fact, make that more often than not.

"Well, what is it?" Reign asked, clearly trying to feel out the waters before deciding to go with Snotlout.

"You just have to come with me. It's awesome!" Reign crossed her arms and leaned back slightly. "I promise you won't get almost killed this time, Reign." She shook her head.

"I'm always going to have that giant scar on my back now. I'm not risking getting another one."

"You have a scar on your back? Lucky!" Ruffnut whined.

"Don't worry, Reign," I assured her. "I'll be right next to you." She turned slightly red. "Uh, along with the rest of us, of course." 

"Yeah. You know you can trust us to help you pound the snot out of anything that threatens you, no matter what." Astrid side-hugged her technical sister, which seemed to fully reassure the girl. 

"All right, let's get a move on before it gets too dark." Everyone climbed on their dragons and followed Snotlout to wherever it was he wanted to take us. As we leveled out and started to just cruise, I got myself closer to Reign.

"So... pretty big day coming up soon, huh?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes, but she was terrible at fighting back a smile.

"You're so cheesy." 

"I seem to recall you saying that to me not too long ago."

"If I'm saying it more than once, it must be true." She shook her head as she laughed at her own joke. "But yeah, it's a pretty important day."

"Don't worry, I've got some fun stuff planned." She looked at me and genuinely smiled.

"I'll be looking forward to it." We followed Snotlout down onto the shore of a beach, where he jumped off Hookfang and led us over to the wreck of a ship.

"Heh. A wrecked boat on Berk? There's something new," Tuffnut mocked.

"Just remember I saw it first, so it's mine." He crouched down and slipped his head under the boat, checking on whatever was hidden there before motioning for us to look. The rest of us crouched down, and I squinted against the darkness, until the shadows revealed themselves to be a girl, lying motionless in the sand, face down.

"Whoa. Now I like the boat."

"Remember, I get to keep her."

"Snotlout, it's a person," Reign grunted.

"Right? How lucky is that?" I shook my head. He wasn't getting what Reign was trying to say. 

Curious, I crawled further in and gently shook her stick-like arm, trying to wake her... or make sure she was even alive.

"Uh, hey. Hey, there." I backed away slightly in alarm as she slowly moved her arms and pushed herself up. As soon as she looked at us, she gasped and backed further against the back of the boat. "It's okay. We're friends," I assured her. I was able to take in her scared expression, and something about it seemed so... familiar.

The girl coughed into her hand before managing to croak out a sentence.

"D-Do you have any water?" Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Tuffnut shoved the rest of us out of the way to offer her their water. 

"Allow me." Snotlout pushed away his friends and handed her his water for her to drink.

"Thank you." She took a large gulp from the jug before handing it back to its owner. "Where am I?"

"This is Berk." I was suddenly shoved away by my eager Night Fury, who began sniffing the new girl furiously. "Oh, d-don't be afraid. He won't hurt you." I moved Toothless out of the way so that she could get out. "Come out. It's okay." She stared at me for a few moments before feeling brave enough to slowly crawl her way out. "Easy, bud."

"How did you do that?" She seemed amazed at how I had been able to get Toothless to back off like that. 

"That? That;s nothing," Snotlout huffed. "Watch this. Hookfang, get your butt over here!" His Monstrous Nightmare looked up at him for a moment, before turning around and flying away, likely going back home so he didn't have to deal with Snotlout, unlike the rest of us. "Heh heh heh. He'll be back. Jokester." Reign shook her head. "Oh! Just so you know, I'm the one who rescued you." I quickly moved closer to Heather to introduce myself. 

"And I would be Hiccup."

"Heather," she answered in a small voice.

" _So,_ Heather." The girl diverted her attention to Reign and Astrid. "What happened to you?"

"My family and I were on our way home to our island, but our boat was attacked by pirates."

"I wanna be a pirate," Tuff interjected. Everyone turned to stare at him. "Or a fish cleaner. I'm still on the fence." Reign cleared her throat to draw attentions back to Heather. "You were saying?"

"They attacked our boat and took us back to our island, laying siege to it. I was able to escape, but my mother and father... they weren't so lucky."

"Stupid pirates. I'm definitely gonna be a fish cleaner." 

Heather's story struck a chord with me, but there was something about the feeling that was... familiar. I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but I had felt this sympathy before with someone I knew. 

I reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, everything's gonna be okay. My dad's the chief. We'll figure something out." I led her back to Toothless and helped her up. Luckily, I had left Reign's old saddle on, so she wouldn't have to attempt and ride bare back. After a few moments of curious lingering, Reign enthusiastically jumped onto Shriek.

"Don't forget, we're meeting tomorrow to work on our times. Unless you want Shriek to be the fastest one in the Book of Dragons," she teased.

"Yeah, that's definitely _not_ going to happen. We will be there, okay?" She nodded and took off, leaving Heather and I to follow. "Hold on."

"Hey-whoa!" She seemed absolutely terrified when we first took off, gripping onto my shoulders for dear life, but as soon as Toothless had leveled out, she relaxed her grip. 

Everything that had been happening since we met Heather had felt like deja vu. I couldn't fight the feeling that I had done all of this before, that it had happened almost to a tee. I just couldn't figure out where I had felt all of this before. It was so overwhelmingly familiar.

"Alright, just this way, watch your step. And, here we are." I held my arms out to present my small bedroom to Heather. She looked around with wide eyes, as though she had never seen a room this big, even though there really wasn't much space in it.

"It was nice of your father to let me stay here."

"Until we can find you a safe place to go, consider Berk your home." As soon as I finished that sentence, I shook my head. I had said that somewhere before.

"Wow." She moved over to my desk and stared at the blueprints I had pinned up there in fascination. "What are these? They're really cool."

"A new saddle for Toothless. We're trying to get some extra speed so we can stay on top of Reign and Shriek. She's not that competitive, but she seems to enjoy friendly competition with me." Heather's finger landed on the drawing of Reign and I on Toothless.

"This doesn't look like a saddle," she taunted.

"No, that- Reign drew that one. That was, uh... from the first time she rode on Toothless. That day was, um..." I got a little lost in what I was saying as I admired the drawing. "It's one of my favorite things in this room." I managed to look back over to Heather, whose expression had almost changed to one of... disappointment? "Uhh... Do you need anything? Some warm yak milk, a nice fish stew...?"

"No," she chuckled. "Thank you, Hiccup. I'm- I'm really tired. It's been a long day."

"Right." I stood there awkwardly for a moment, not quite sure what to do. "Okay, come on, Toothless. We're sleeping downstairs." I had started to make my way down, when Heather called out to me. 

"Hey, Hiccup?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks." I smiled, feeling a tiny blush rising.

"Sleep well, Heather." As soon as I got downstairs, I sat at the table and opened my journal, unfolding a large paper I had kept in there. Toothless nudged me as I pulled out the charcoal wrapped around a stick. "I have to finish this before the end of the week, bud." I etched the outline of the pond in the cove we'd spent a lot of time in. So I was going to give her a drawing of us in there with Toothless and Shriek for the day that marked we'd been together for a year. "This is the big finale of things for her." I, of course, had everything planned out pretty far in advance. Our anniversary wasn't for a couple of weeks, but I just wanted to be ready.

"Don't stay up too late, Hiccup," my dad cautioned as he made his way into his room to retire for the night. 

The next morning, I got up early to finish up the new saddle for Toothless. I didn't have to meet Reign for a few hours, which gave me just enough time to get it done. I was hammering the hot end of connecting rod to mold it into place when Heather approached. 

"You're up early." I put the mallet down and turned to face her with a big smile.

"Yeah, just wanted to get the jump on this." She placed her hands on the saddle and looked at it curiously.

"You know, with a shorter connecting rod, it'll push you back in the saddle and make you more streamlined." I was impressed. The only other person who would know something like that was Reign, and that was because she'd been around Toothless for a while. The fact that Heather had picked up on these things so quickly was almost awe inspiring. I grabbed the large claw and pulled another connecting rod out of the fire it was smoldering in.

"...which will increase our speed! Yeah!" I laughed. "You hear that, bud? Oh, Shriek's gonna be seeing a lot more of your tail."

"So, when can we test it out?" Heather giggled. 

"How about right now?" Somehow, in that instant, I had completely forgotten about my plans with Reign, instead opting to show Heather around Berk, in case she would be staying here a while. 

Quickly, I dipped the rod into the bucket of freezing water and latched it onto the saddle, before securing it on Toothless. I climbed on, but Heather stared, as though suddenly hesitating.

"Aren't you coming?" After a few more minutes of giving me blank eyes, she smiled and got on behind me, holding tight as I walked Toothless out and patted him to get him to fly into the air. The wind constantly slapped our faces with how fast we were going, but the adrenaline made that all irrelevant. 

"Whoo! Yeah!" We shot laps around the island until the sun was all the way up in the sky, hanging high above our heads.

"We should get to the academy! I have training today." We did one more lap, then looped around and flew through the gates into the academy. "Top of the morning, class," I greeted as I got off Toothless. "How's everyone doing today?"

"Oh, nice of you to show up," Reign snapped. I shifted my gaze over to her to see that her arms were crossed, usually lively eyes looking dark with anger. I had never seen her like this.

"What?" That's when I remembered what she and I were supposed to do. "Oh! We were supposed to meet up. I'm so sorry." She remained unchanged by my apology.

"Awkward," Snotout sang.

"Oh! Reign is jealous of the pretty one, right? Why talk about hens and roosters?" I raised an eyebrow. Reign was jealous? 

"So, Heather, sleep well?" Her voice was snide and sarcastic.

"Very well. Thank you, Reign." Astrid and Reign glanced at each other, as though they knew something. _What_ was happening here, today? Everyone was completely off from their normal selves. "So, this it it? Your dragon training academy?"

"No, _our_ dragon training academy," Tuffnut corrected. "Remember, I called you the pretty one." I stared at Tuff in a dumbfounded stupor for a moment before moving on.

"We've been training the dragons to become part of our everyday lives."

"And it all goes right in here." Fishlegs held up the Book of Dragons in front of Heather, trying to show it off.

"Really? Everything?"

"Mmm, yep. I'm kind of the Log Keeper. Log Master, really."

"He writes down what Hiccup tells them, too," Snotlout interjected.

"I add my own spin, thank you."

"Can I see it?" Before Fishlegs could hand the book over to Heather, Reign furiously snatched it from his hands.

"I'll take that, thank you. Excuse us." She roughly grabbed the back of my vest and shoved me into the large cage where we had once kept Shriek and pushed me to stand across from her. "Hiccup, I don't think we should be showing her all our dragon secrets." Was she serious? I had never seen Reign this paranoid before.

"Reign, it's fine," I assured her.

"I just don't trust her. You shouldn't, either." I was starting to grow impatient.

"Well, I do. And you should trust me." I looked her right in her green eyes before walking away rejoining the others while Reign sulked in the cage. "Sorry about that, Heather. Reign's not from around here, either, so she can be... protective of her new home." That seemed to spark a different interest in Heather. 

"Not from here?"

"Yeah. She just kind of showed up on the shore one day," Tuffnut informed her. "Turns out a dragon dropped her here."

"Well, where did she come from?" I shrugged.

"No one knows, not even her. She's trying her best to remember, but nothing's changed. I know it's been bothering her a lot lately, even if she won't admit it." I shook the thoughts from my head and decided to focus on training.

"H-Hey, Hiccup." I looked up from adjusting Toothless' saddle to see Reign approaching me, playing with her hair- something she did when she was nervous. 

"Oh, hi, Reign." I moved around the other side of my dragon to stand face-to-face with her. 

"I, uh... I'm sorry about my outburst earlier." I could tell she wanted to say more than that, but I decided to let it go, because there was clearly a lot on her mind at the moment.

"It's okay, Reign." I reached out and took one of her hands. "Really, it's okay."

"Thanks, Hiccup." She leaned over and rested her head against my chest, sighing as I looked over at the sunset.

"Do you wanna go inside?" She smiled up at me.

"Yeah, sure." We opened the door and started to go upstairs, when we overheard a voice coming from my room.

"Here we go. The Thunderdrum: sonic-boom roar, loyal, powerful-" Reign shook her head before letting go of my hand and storming the rest of the way up.

"-intelligent, and of course, deadly. What do you think you're doing?" I quickly followed her up to see Heather sitting on the other side of my bed with the Book of Dragons in her lap, eyes wide in alarm. Quickly, Reign snatched the book from Heather's hands and yanked her up before handing it over to me. "Well, are you gonna say something?" she pressed. I couldn't help but feel almost disappointed. For a moment, Reign was her old self, but now, she'd reverted back to that angry and paranoid state.

"I am so, so sorry, Hiccup. I was cleaning up your room, and I found the book. I couldn't help myself." I offered her a smile to assure her everything was all good.

"It's okay, Heather."

"It's _okay_?" Reign snapped. "What do you mean, 'okay'? She's reading the Book of Dragons!"

"Reign, come on, lighten up."

"Me?" The fire returned to her eyes. "She's the one sneaking around, looking at our stuff." I was a little shocked. Heather had been sneaking around? But... how did Reign know that?

"Really? Sneaking around?" The question was more for Reign than Heather. "What-what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about last night, near my house."

"That was me," Heather admitted. "I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. I've been having terrible nightmares." I felt that 'pang' in my heart.

"I can imagine."

"Is this really happening?" I had reached my boiling point with Reign. She was taking all of this too far.

"Okay, Reign, that's enough," I snapped.

"You're right, Hiccup, it is." She shot me an intense glare before storming out of my room.

"I'm sorry about that." The door slammed downstairs.

"No, I'm sorry. I was wrong to look at your book."

"It's no big deal." I moved to slide it back under my bed, where I kept it. "I trust you." She awkwardly looked around the room for a few minutes before heading toward the doorway. 

"I'm... going to take another walk." I sighed and shook my head as she made her way out of my hut. Reign was never like this without good reason, but at the same time, Heather was innocent. Thinking about all of it... it made my head spin.

"Hiccup! Come get dinner! I sulked my way downstairs and plopped myself down at the table, where my dad set down a plate of fish in front of me. "What's wrong, son?" he asked, sitting down.

"Reign's been acting really strange since Heather showed up, and it's getting out of hand."

"I heard her yelling. Heather's really getting under her skin." Toothless nudged my side. "She could be jealous of how much time you're spending with Heather." I looked at my dad curiously.

"What... do you mean?"

"Well, you've been spending much more time with Heather than Reign, and as your... whatever she is to you, she's probably feeling neglected." My eyes went wide as I realized he was right. I buried my head in my hands. 

"What do I do?"

"Just be patient with her, but remember to spend time with her. You've known each other longer, after all."

I was suddenly jarred from my slumber by sudden pain hitting my back. My eyes shot open in alarm, and I quickly whipped around to see Reign looming above me.

"Wake up, Hiccup."

"Ow! What- Why would you do that? What are you doing?"

"Saving our butts. I just saw Heather talking to Savage. She's working with the Outcasts." I sighed. I knew what my dad had said, but it was the middle of the night, and I didn't have the patience for this now.

"What? She's upstairs sleeping."

"Oh, yeah? Let's go find out." I groaned, but followed Reign up the steps and into my room, where we found Heather lying in my bed. At the sound of people entering, she rolled over and yawned.

"Oh, hey, guys. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Heather," I answered quickly. "Everything's fine." Reign grumbled before turning on her heels and marching out. "Reign, don't you think it's possible you saw something else?" She turned to me in defiance. "I mean, it's pretty dark out there."

"I know what I saw. The girl is not who you think she is." My frustration began to boil. Why couldn't she just trust Heather?

"Then who is she?"

"I-I don't know! Nobody knows. She just mysteriously washed up on our beach. You don't find that strange?"

That's when it clicked. Washed up on the shore? A girl from somewhere far away, separated from her family? Afraid upon first waking up, asking for water and where she was?

Heather reminded me of Reign.

"No, because her ship was taken over by pirates. Her whole island is under siege."

"The only thing under siege is your brain. You're not thinking clearly."

"Oh really? Me?"

"The Outcasts could be attacking any minute."

"Reign, i-if there's one thing I know, it's this. Heather is not working for the Outcasts. Why can't you just trust her?"

"We know nothing about her! Except that she _is_ working for the Outcasts. I know it."

"We knew nothing about you, and last I recall, I trust you just as much as I do Heather." As soon as that came out of my mouth, I regretted it. A hurt look crossed her face as she turned slightly away.

"I didn't realize you just dolled out unbreaking trust to whoever washes up here." She turned around to leave. "Guess I was stupid for thinking I was special to you."

"Reign, wait." She ran away before I could try and talk to her.

"Uh, Dad? Have you seen the book?"

I was starting to panic. The Book of Dragons had gone missing not long after Heather had said she was going for a walk I hated to believe what Reign had said, but it was starting to look a lot more likely than it did last night.

"You'll have to be more specific, son."

"The-The Book of Dragons. I can't find it anywhere."

"She's gone!" Reign threw the door open.

"Heather."

"No, Shriek! Little Miss Innocent stole my dragon!"

"Okay, okay, Reign. Let's get the others and go after her." She stuck out her arm to cut me off from leaving.

"So now do you believe me?"

"Not the time!"

"Right, right." We gathered up the gang and gathered them outside of the academy, explaining the situation before unanimously deciding we needed to leave ASAP.

"Oh, this is bad," Fishlegs panicked. "This is bad, this is bad, this is catastrophic! I-If Alvin gets that book-"

"He won't." Reality was still setting in. I couldn't believe Heather was actually working for the Outcasts. "Heather... I can't believe it."

"Me, either. How could she walk away from this?" Snotlout gestured to all of himself in vain.

“How could I have not seen it?” 

“Because your brain was ‘under siege.’” I turned to the twins.

“Do you even know what that means?”

“Yes... No... It’s not good, right?”

“No, it’s not good,” Reign snapped, climbing onto her saddle.

“Reign, look-“

“Save it. You can apologize when you get me my dragon back.”

“All right, let’s go.” I mounted Toothless. “We can’t let Heather reach Outcast Island.

The sun was setting, and we still hadn’t found Heather.

“We’re never going to catch them!” Reign yelled, starting to lose hope. “Shriek is too fast!”

“When you’re riding her, definitely. Not with a stranger."

"What's that, up ahead?" I looked forward again to see a bright purple Thunderdrum tossing around a skinny girl.

"That's Heather. And boy, is she gonna be sorry she helped me with Toothless' speed." I shifted my leg to open Toothless' artificial tail fin, and after a large flap of his wings, Toothless shot forward, leaving the others in the dust. Reign gripped my waist even tighter, for dear life, and we managed to catch up with Heather. She looked at us with alarmed, green eyes, as though she had never expected us to catch her. "I'll get you in close." I steered Toothless to my left, bringing him almost right up against Shriek, when Heather pulled out a leg of chicken and tossed it into Shriek's mouth, making the Thunderdrum speed up. "Is that chicken? Is that what you've been-"

"Really? You wanna talk about that now?" Heather dipped Shriek down closer to the water, thinking that if she went below the cloud cover, we wouldn't be able to catch her.

"I'm gonna pull right above her!" I made Toothless climb as high as he could, then as soon as we spotted Heather, he dove to hover right above her head.

"Okay, okay. Hold him steady!" Reign used my shoulders to steady herself as she stood, and before she had time to think of the bad things that could come from this, she jumped down and landed right on Shriek's back. As soon as Heather noticed her, she bumped her toward the back, causing Reign to grip onto Shriek's tail. I nervously watched Reign as her dragon whipped her tail to launch her onto Heather's back.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Tuffnut cried. Reign wrapped her arm around Heather's neck and pulled up one of the girl's arms. 

"Uh, Hiccup, I really hate to be the voice of doom, but we just crossed into Outcast waters!" I looked down over the rock formations- dragon nests- and started to panic slightly.

"Hey, Reign! You might wanna move this along!"

"Give me a minute! She's stronger than she looks!" Reign managed to pin Heather under her as fiery boulders were suddenly launched at all of us. 

"Uh, Reign?" Heather flipped the redhead over to try and subdue her, but Reign managed to shoot herself up and grab onto Heather, pushing away both of her arms before shoving her off. However, as Heather began to fall- along with the Book of Dragons- Reign realized what she had just done, she reached out to try and grab her hand. "I've got the book!" Snotlout dove to catch Heather, while I followed the book. "Come on, bud. We _need_ to get that book." The amount of flaming boulders increased as I got within arms' reach. "Come on, come on, come on. Come on, bud." 

I was just about to grasp it and take it home, when a boulder came right at us, and I had to steer Toothless out of the way in order to avoid getting hit. I tried to dive down again, but as fire singed my shoulder, I knew we had lost. As I returned to the others holding my arm, Reign dove Shriek closer to get a better look.

" _Please_ tell me you got the book."

"I was too late. Alvin has the book of dragons."


	11. (Reign)

_He stared down at her curiously as she breathed deeply, laying unconsciously in the sand. Some of her red hair was long, curly, and wild, while other bits had been burnt to nearly against her skull. He had heard the cry, but when he came down to investigate, he only found a girl. Her clothes were odd, not from Berk, but there was some sort of familiarity to their style. She had no weapons, only a shield attached to her back. Her pallid arms were coated in as many scratches as freckles, with scattered burn marks that would take a while to heal, if ever._

_Gently, he crouched down to touch her arm, but right before she did, she shot up, gasping for air. They stared right into each others eyes, and he took the time to memorize the jade bowls set into her skull before she started screaming._

_"Dad!"_

As soon as I spotted her, I had Shriek fire a boom that was large enough to stop the fleeing girl, but small enough that she wouldn't die.

"You can break out of jail as many times as you want, but you're not getting off this island." I swooped my Thunderdrum down and picked Heather up, flying her back to the cells and unceremoniously tossed her back in. "Give it up, Heather. We have dragons."

"Reign, I have to get back to Outcast Island."

"Yeah, I bet you do," I huffed. Done with listening to her prattle on, I began to walk away.

"You don't understand. Alvin has my parents!" I laughed at her lame excuse. That was really the best she could come up with?

"Oh, yeah? What happened to the pirates?" Heather sighed, knowing she had been caught.

"There were never any pirates. I made it up. But I had to. I needed you to trust me." I couldn't believe this girl. Didn't she understand that I never trusted her?

"Well, guess what? We don't. Not anymore." I coldly turned my back on her and walked away, heading to where I knew Hiccup was. He sat beside Toothless, sulking at the fact that Heather couldn't be trusted. I had figured he at least found her attractive, and I was still a little angry at the fact he had put Heather and I at the same level, but I felt nothing but sympathy for him at the moment. So, I sucked it up and sat down next to him. "You made one mistake, Hiccup. It'll work out."

"That mistake cost us the Book of Dragons, Reign. That's a valuable resource that one of our mortal enemies now has in his hands." As he leaned his head on my shoulder, I began to run my fingers through his hair.

"Hey, you always figure these sort of things out. Even if we don't get the book back from Alvin, you and Toothless can help train everybody to defend the dragons and Berk." I gently rested my nose against the top of his head. "You're so much smarter and braver than you give yourself credit for. So what if you couldn't see through Heather's rouse? You immediately jumped on your dragon and made a mad dash after her, only giving up when you got hurt."

Softly, I kissed the top of his head.

"You're going to figure this out. And I'm right here to help you." He lifted his head and looked at me with somewhat of a smile- as much as he could muster at the moment.

"Then I guess we should get going now. We have to train to attack." I whistled for Shriek, and she quickly dashed over, after which Hiccup and I gathered up the others and rounded them up at the academy. Hiccup went over the plan he had been formulating, and the two of us watched as training began. Snotlout drew back a mini catapult with a boulder on it, shooting the rock directly at Meatlug, who caught it in her mouth and devoured it.

"Hey! That was a little close, Snotlout!" Fishlegs cried.

"Quit whining, Fishlegs!" Meatlug fired a ball of lava at Snotlout. Luckily, he ducked out of the way just in time.

"Hey, cut it out!"

"Quit whining, Snotlout," Fishlegs mocked. Hiccup stepped in to break up the fight.

"Nice job, guys. But remember, the Outcasts are not going to be coming one at a time."

"You don't need to remind me. We're under enough stress."

"Remember, we're only gonna have one shot at getting the Book of Dragons back," I added.

"Uh, did I not make myself clear about the stress?" Fishlegs moved out of the way, enabling Ruffnut and Tuffnut to make their entrance. Barf and Belch created a line of gas leading straight to Snotlout and Hookfang, then ignited it. But Snotlout began to panic, and threw himself out of the way. 

"Too early, Snotlout," I sighed. "You have to time it perfectly!"

"It wasn't me, it was them," he accused.

"Uh, sorry."

"We're still working out the kinks," Tuff laughed. Hookfang lit himself aflame and began throwing himself around the academy in a fit.

"Can you calm him down?" Astrid snapped.

"Fine, whatever." Snotlout sprinted over to his dragon and roughly grabbed the horns on his head. Shockingly, Hookfang's fire immediately went out, and he just laid on the ground, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"Figured that one out yesterday. He likes it."

"Wait, wait, wait- he _likes_ having his horns pinned to the ground?"

"Tuffnut does."

"I do?" His sister lunged at him and pinned him to the ground by his helmet. "Oh, yeah. That does feel kind of nice. The dirt's soft..."

"Can we get on with it? There could be a whole army coming at us."

"Well... we're waiting..." Astrid directed Stormfly into the air, and as soon as she was ready, Hookfang lit fire to the ground, and the Nadder shot out some of her tail spines into it, creating flaming spikes. One of them pinned itself into Tuffnut's helmet, but he just shrugged.

"Huh... kinda like that, too. Make a note."

"That's gonna work great," Hiccup smiled.

"You know, all this training is nice once we have the book, but Alvin's not just gonna hand it over to us." It was time to present the idea I'd been rolling around in my head.

"No, but maybe Alvin will hand it to Heather."

"Uh, I think Reign's been eating Dragon Nip again." Angry, I elbowed Fishlegs in the gut. "Ow! Why is it always violence with you and your sister?"

"It's not violence, it's communication," Astrid answered.

"So, you're suggesting that we let Heather go?" I was trying to find a way to express what I was thinking without giving it away.

"Kind of?"

"Yup, Dragon Nip." I lunged forward and punched him in the gut.

"Reign, can I talk to you for a second?" Hiccup grabbed onto my elbow and pulled me away from everyone else. "What exactly are you planning?" I leaned against the wall and hoped Hiccup wouldn't have a complete freak out.

"I'm going to dress as Heather and go to Outcast Island to get the book back." 

"Uh, what? Are you insane?"

And, there it was.

"Well, of course, but that's not the point." Thankfully, that made him laugh. "Look, it's really our only option. It's either me or Astrid, and I look more like Heather, as much as I hate to admit it."

"I-well- you..." He sighed. "You're right. But you better be careful." He reached out and moved a few strands of stray hair out of my face.

"I will be."

I adjusted my wig before taking one last look into the reflective pool of water in the cave. The face staring back at me was a disturbingly perfect replica. I still had the vague outline of my freckles, and my face was a bit more defined than her’s, but everything else was spitting. It was a little jarring.

At least it would be believable.

I figured everyone would have been up to speed on what the plan was, but as soon as I came into the shimmer of the moonlight, Ruff and Tuff attacked me.

“Heather!”

“Get her!”

“That rhymes!” 

I was pinned to the ground with impressive force as the twins got the jump on me.

“You must stay in your cell.” I tried my best to struggle against them, but for as strong as I was, I couldn’t move them off me. “How many times do we have to tell you?” Tuff took a split second to adjust his helmet, and that’s when I got my chance to throw them off of me.

“It’s me, you muttonheads!”

"Whoa."

"Wow!" I stood and aggressively brushed myself off, frustrated.

"Sorry, Reign. Totally unconvincing." I scoffed and shook my head before moving past them to get on the boat that they had been preparing for me.

"Oh, yeah. I could tell."

"You sure about this?" Hiccup asked me, approaching the side. He had that unconvinced glint in his eye; not a glint that said he didn't trust me, but one that was worried something would go wrong.

"No, but it's our only chance," I reasoned.

"We'll be shadowing you from the sky."

"I don't need shadowing." He reeled back slightly.

"Uh, just in case. You know, it'll make me feel better." I stared at him to gauge whether or not I could change his mind, but it was obvious there would be no budging.

"Fine, just stay out of sight. If Alvin sees you, it'll all be over."

"Don't worry about us. Just get the book, and get out of there. We'll be waiting." Fishlegs came over to push the boat away from shore, but I made a gesture to wave him away, not quite finished here.

With some hesitation, I removed the silver necklace Hiccup had given me from my pocket and placed it in his hands. He took it, but as soon as he realized what it was, he looked at me in alarm. I _never_ took that thing off, ever.

"I had to take it off for the disguise. I figured maybe you'd want to keep it with you until I come back." I moved to draw my hands away, but before I did, Hiccup reached down and kissed the one that was on top. I bushed down an intense blush as Fishlegs moved the boat from shore, sending me adrift and on course to Outcast Island.

"Hey, Reign?" I heard him call. "Be safe."

The dark waters with fog looming over them were ominous, making me a little uncomfortable. I was already nervous, the possibility of Alvin spotting the little differences and realizing I'm not Heather looming over my head, and the atmosphere was not helping. 

"Maybe I shouldn't have given that necklace to Hiccup," I muttered. "No, no, come on. You don't need that necklace to comfort you." I sighed and placed a hand on my forehead, trying to push myself through. "Just think of something else. Anything else." 

I didn't expect a long forgotten memory to cross into my mind.

_Thunder shook the sides of the house, causing me to shrink further down into my covers and cower. I couldn't cry,_ I couldn't _. Our people were too brave for that._

_And then, my door opened._

_"Reign?"_

_I peered over the fortress of my blankets to see a large, lumbering figure in the doorway, eyes cast on me with nothing but concern._

_"D-Daddy?" I squeaked. He quickly rushed over and pulled me into his arms, rocking my tiny body back and forth._

_"The storm can't hurt you in here. You're perfectly safe." I held back every sob that was threatening to claw to the surface as another clap of thunder jarred me. "I'm right here. I'll always be right here for my little girl."_

I couldn't remember his face anymore, but his voice was so clear. My mother, my father, my brother... their voices were so clear to me, but their faces were lost in the distant fog. What they had done, the things they said, they lingered. And slowly but surely, they were coming back to me.

As more memories came back, I became more and more anxious to find out who I was, where I came from. It kept me up at night, distracted me during training, any chance they got to invade my mind. I wasn't sure how much longer I could let myself stay on Berk without going out to ask about my family. 

I quickly ducked out of the way as a dragon zipped inches over my head, trying to get me out of the way. 

"Aah!" To get out of the line of hunting dragons, I moved the boat faster, getting wood to hit sand quickly. Cautiously, I jumped off and began to back my way toward the rocks behind me.

"We thought you'd been captured." I jumped and whipped around to find myself staring at Savage's chest- seeing as how he was too tall for me to look at his face. Self-consciously, I adjusted the wig and looked up at him.

"I was, but I got away." My heart rate sped up as he got threateningly close to my face.

"Well, it's good to see you safe and sound." He turned to the men who had appeared on the cliff side. "Get rid of her." My eyes went wide. 

"What?"

"We don't need you anymore."

"Savage, wait! You _do_ need me," I protested. I was not about to leave her without what I had come for. "I can prove it. You have the book, right?" He paused in his steps and turned around. "I've watched them, I've learned from them. Trust me, that book is only worth something if you know how to use it."

The look on Savage's face shifted to one of intrigue.

"Seems pretty straightforward to me." Alvin slammed the book shut and glared at me with his beady eyes and I tried my best to keep my stern expression from wavering.

"It's anything but straightforward, Alvin."

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that people will say anything to keep themselves alive. Isn't that right, Savage?"

"Right, a-as usual, Alvin," Savage quickly stuttered. I rolled my eyes as Alvin laughed at his manipulation.

" See? Now, you say I need you to interpret what's in this book, to use it properly." He got up from his throne and began to walk closer to me. "I say it's nothing but a ploy."

"Fine. Give it a try." Alvin tossed the book to one of his lackeys, who threw down his shield and spear to flip through it. He gulped as he stared up at a Deadly Nadder, biting and thrashing because it was being cornered.

"All right. Seems easy enough." He turned to Alvin. "Wh-What kind of dragon is this?"

"It's a Deadly Nadder," I answered. "You need the page number?"

"Uh... nope, nope, nope. Right here. 'Deadly Nadder- likes to preen. Very sure of itself. Constant grooming.' Hmm, all right. 'Appeal to its vanity.'" I shook my head as the lackey shut the book and slowly inched his way closer to the Nadder. "Well, you, uh, certainly are a lovely girl." The Nadder cawed, understanding the praise she was receiving. "O-Or are you a handsome boy?" 

That was what did him in. The Nadder screeched and reared her tail, and- recognizing this behavior from Stormfly- I dove and grabbed a shield and blocked the spines from hitting the guy.

"Like I said-" I threw the shield away. "-the book can only get you so far, Alvin." He lowered his gaze and glared at me for a moment, then turned to his men. 

"Throw her in a cell for the night. She'll show us how to use the book in the morning." I growled in the back of my throat, but knew it would be better to just bite my tongue and keep my thoughts to myself. I kept that brave face on all the way to the cell, and even when I was thrown in. 

"H-Heather...?" My head whipped to my left. Someone was calling out for someone, but technically, they weren't me. Carefully, I looked around for guards, then leaned against the door. 

"No. My name's Reign. I'm... here on an operation." The person gasped.

"R-Reign? You said your name was Reign?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Do I know you?"

"You may not remember me. I knew you when you were a little girl."

_A little girl? That could only mean..._

"You're from where I used to live?" The woman let out a chuckle.

"You could say that."

This was it. This woman was my chance to learn more about who I was.

"Tell me about home."

I set a hand on my hip and extended my arm out as Alvin and Savage attempted to shove me into their own dragon arena.

" _What_ is it?"

"The book. I need it." Alvin scoffed at my request. "Well, I didn't _memorize_ it." He kept one skeptical eye on me as he removed the book from his belt and placed it into my hands. The moment I looked down at its leather-bound cover, Alvin shoved me in and slammed the gate shut behind me. Slowly, I turned around and prayed for a Nadder. Sure, I knew Thunderdrums best, but they likely wouldn't have any of those here, so I needed the next best thing.

"Please be a Nadder, please be a Nadder, please be a Nadder..." 

Out from the cages burst a Monstrous Nightmare, already aflame. 

"Oh, great..." I opened up the book and flipped to the page on Monstrous Nightmares.

"Well? I'm waiting." I glared up at Alvin before turning to face the Nightmare.

"Okay, boy. It's you, and me." Putting on a brave face, I marched toward the large dragon, starting with the technique I had learned from Hiccup. I extended my hand out and looked away, only to feel an intense shot of heat and be thrown to the ground. "O...kay. Check _that_ off the list. How about the direct approach?" I ran at the Nightmare as fast as I could and grabbed it by the tail, attempting to pin him down as he threw me around like a rag doll. "Aah!" I bit my tongue as I was thrown against the wall.

"This isn't anything my soldiers haven't already tried! You'll need to do better!"

"Ugh." I shook myself off and sat up. "The one time I wish Snotlout was here." 

The idea suddenly hit me. I looked up at the Monstrous Nightmare and glared him right in his menacing, yellow eyes.

"Of course." Lacking fear, I raced right at the dragon and jumped up onto its head, managing to get my hands around his horns. Just as I got my foot between his eyes and nostrils, he slammed his head against the wall. I pushed as hard as I could, and somehow managed to get it away from my body. "Ugh... these things don't budge! Aah!" With a sudden surge of adrenaline, I stared the Nightmare right in its eyes, and managed to pin its horns to the ground.

Having won, I sat down on the Nightmare's neck, ready to finish the plan.

"Ugh, what do you say we get out of here?" As the Nightmare stood, I grabbed the Book of Dragons off the ground, when soldiers rushed in. The Nightmare shot out fire at them to send them running away, but just as I was about to leave, Alvin's voice cut through the air.

"Going somewhere, Heather?"

"As far away from this place as possible!"

"Without your parents?" I was shocked as two terrified adults were nudged closer to Alvin, their eyes flashing with recognition as they gazed over who they believed to be their daughter.

"Parents? She was telling the truth?"

"I might see my way clear to trading them for that book. Or, you can leave them, and I'll kill them!" I sighed. They weren't my parents, but they meant something to Heather.

"Bring them down here!" Alvin complied, coming down along with Heather's parents and a few of his soldiers.

"Well? Let's have it."

"Send them over, first!" I demanded. 

"Fine," he grumbled, shoving the pair. "Off you go." The two looked at me curiously, clearing able to pick up the subtle differences between me and their daughter. 

"Mom! Dad!" I reached forward and embraced Heather's parents. "I'm a friend of Heather's, I'm here to help," I whispered to them. 

"You do realize I'll never let you out of here with that book?"

"No kidding!" I clenched my teeth. "When I tell you, drop to the ground. It's about to get really hot in here."

"Oh, Heather? I'm waiting." With a smirk, I threw the book into the air. "Now!" As soon as Heather's parents dropped, I turned to the Monstrous Nightmare. "Sorry, boy." I reeled back and nailed him square on the nose, causing him to flame up and shoot out a blast right in Alvin's direction. 

I managed to get my fingers around the book, when Heather's mom exclaimed from behind me. I turned around to see her father's legs tied up, writhing on the ground in an attempt to escape. I couldn't just leave him here. I threw down the book and rushed over to untie his legs, but when Alvin started to storm over, I threw my body to cover the book. However, Alvin simply picked me up and held me in the air, ripping the Book of Dragons from my hands.

"Heather, Heather, Heather..." He set me down on the ground, when he noticed some of the black from the wig had come off on his hand. "Eh?" He stared down at his stained fingers once again. "Or are ya?"

"You have the book, Alvin. Just let us go." He wouldn't take his suspicious glare off of me as we exited the arena and made our way to the cliffs where I knew everyone was waiting. Sure enough, I saw them over the cliff, and waved my fingers in the air twice: the signal. Hiccup eagerly mounted Toothless and flew him over to the three of us, eliciting gasps from Heather's parents.

"Who's this?" he asked me, clearly suspicious as to why there were two people and no book.

"Heather's parents. She was telling the truth, just go with the plan," I grumbled. Hiccup looked around in alarm as we were surrounded by Alvin's soldiers, and he emerged from behind the trees.

"Oi! There they are! Get them!" I gently placed a hand against Toothless' neck to keep him from shooting as Alvin's soldiers closed in on us. "Well, Hiccup," Alvin laughed. "Bet you're surprised to see me."

"Eh, not really. This is where you live, right?" Toothless let out a little roar. "Easy, bud. Looks like he's got us, this time." Hiccup reached out to tap my arm, dismissing me from his side. As hesitant as I was, I knew it was pivotal to the plan.

"You know, Hiccup... With this book, your knowledge of dragons, and my knowledge of warfare, we could make quite the team. How's that sound?"

"Uh... insane, demented, delusional, stupid?"

"All right then, we'll just have to agree to disagree. You're a smart boy, Hiccup. You know I can't let you leave the island."

"And you're a smart, murderous barbarian, Alvin. _You_ know I have a better plan than this."

"So do I."

"Now!"

"Now!" The rest of our Dragon Riders emerged from their hiding place and began to fire at the soldiers, pushing them back into the trees they had emerged from, when a net was suddenly dropped over Fishlegs and Meatlug.

"Help! This wasn't part of the plan, Hiccup!" The heads of Barf and Belch were tied together, and Ruff and Tuff were thrown off. As soldiers got too close to Hiccup, I snatched a shield from the ground and smashed it against one of their faces.

"There's too many of them!

"We're never getting out of here!"

I was backed completely against Toothless, glancing around at the defeat that seemed inevitable, when the net was snatched from Fishlegs, and the rope around Barf and Belch was singed.

"Is that...?"

"Heather."

"Shriek!" I could see her smile down at us as she steered my Thunderdrum to the right, bringing her to us.

"What? Heather?"

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," I apologized to the girl, gently stroking my dragon.

"It's okay. I wouldn't have believed me, either." I smiled at her and hoisted myself up.

"Now let's get your parents." We took off and snatched the two figures from the center of a circle of soldiers.

"Mom! Dad! Hold on!" We started to make our way toward a safe place where we could set Heather's parents down. I looked down at my hands before turning to look back at Heather.

"I feel really awful about not believing you about you parents." Heather raised an eyebrow at me.

"What's with the sudden change of mind?"

I was about to answer her, when I was suddenly thrown from Shriek with impressive force, sending me tumbling down into the thicket below. Trying to break my fall, I grabbed onto a branch and started to hoist myself up, when the branch snapped beneath me and I tumbled to the ground. I looked up in dread at the shadow that loomed over me, helpless as he reached down to snatch me up.

"Why, you little-" Hiccup and Toothless furiously blasted at Alvin as he tried to run away with me, leading to a standoff on the edge of a cliff. My heart raced as he dangled me over the edge, and I fought to get back to land. "Surrender, or I'll..." He glanced at me with a smirk." Hehehe, you know the rest." A look crossed Hiccup's face, but he patted Toothless.

"Do it, bud." I glanced down at the water beneath me to check the drop, when I saw a large creature soaring over the sea, coming closer to where I was.

"Hiccup, don't shoot!" Toothless immediately relaxed, and only a few seconds later, the Monstrous Nightmare I had trained shot up, knocking Alvin and I onto the shore and releasing his grip on me. Taking my chance, I snatched the Book of Dragons from his belt and grabbed onto the Nightmare, bringing me up. Taking that as a signal, Hiccup flew after me, and we went to meet the others.

"Who is that?"

"Just a new friend I made." Heather and I smiled at each other as we met up, an understanding now bonding us.

"Uh, is no one going to talk about how scarily similar Heather and Reign look right now?" The two of us laughed.

Despite everything that had happened, I was sad that she was leaving now. Strangely enough, I felt this connection with her.

"I can't thank you enough, especially you, Reign. You put your life on the line for us. I'll never forget that." I was a little shocked at first when she hugged me, but I soon returned it, feeling a surge as she let go. "I'm gonna miss you," she sighed as she pet Toothless. "Both of you."

"Well, who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again sometime."

"Maybe we will."

"Just promise me one thing. If you need help again, you'll ask."

"I will. I promise." After lingering for a moment, she turned and got onto the boat with her parents, waving as they sailed away.

_Ever since dragons showed up on Berk, we've learned to expect the unexpected. But every once in a while, something or someone comes along that surprises us. And when that happens, you kind of hate to see them go._

I turned to slightly face Hiccup, keeping my eyes from meeting his.

"I talked to my mom." He snapped his attention to me.

"You... what?"

"She was locked up in the cell next to me."

"Did you...?"

"She couldn't tell me much. Nothing specific, mostly about the island I'm from."

"Did she say the name?" I shook my head.

"The soldiers took her away before she could tell me more. The last thing she told me was that my father was a chief. And then they... just dragged her away." I crossed my arms as Hiccup gently placed a hand on my forearm.

"Are you okay?" I bit my lip before turning away.

"That may have been my last chance to learn who I was, Hiccup. I don't know if the rest of my family is alive, or if I'll see them again. That may have been it." I tried to pull away, but Hiccup wouldn't let me. Instead, he pulled me into a hug and sighed.

"Hey, you'll find out who you are. And I'll help you, anytime you need it." He looked at me. "But for now, just know that you're Reign: the girl who came here on a dragon, who helped bring about peace with them, who fights as hard as she can to keep the people she cares about safe. You're the girl I..." He trailed off, never finishing what he was going to say, but it didn't matter.

"I'm not going to give up until I know where I came from, and who my family is." Hiccup rested his cheek against the top of my head.

"Then we'll do it together."


	12. (Hiccup)

_Every year on Berk, we come together to test our strength, endurance, and courage in the annual Thawfest Games. For some of us, it’s... not such a great time of year. In fact, I’ve lost every single time to Snotlout. But this year, all that could change. This year, I could finally have a chance to win, because, for the first time ever, this year will include..._

“...dragons! They are now officially a part of Thawfest,” Gobber announced. “There will be three additional events: the Fly and Shoot- which will require you to fly straight and shoot straighter-“ A blast of fire from Barf and Belch suddenly shot past Gobber’s head. “Hey!”

“Sorry, we were on the wrong head,” Tuffnut apologized.

“I _knew_ something felt weird.” They fired another shot.

“Ah, much better.”

”The next event will be the Freestyle, where it’s up to you to impress the judges with a trick of your choice.” All of us watched as Astrid perfectly balanced on Stormfly while in midair.

"Ah! The Nadder Wing Walk. Impressive, Astrid."

"Um, excuse me?" Fishlegs called attention to himself. "Meatlug and I were wondering if there were going to be any intellectual events. A puzzle perhaps?"

"I'll... take that under advisement, Fishlegs." Gobber turned his attention back to listing the events. "And let's not forget the hurdles, where you will be asked to-"

"Woo-hoo!" We all looked up as Snotlout and Hookfang zoomed in before landing and kicking some dust in my face. I coughed as I breathed it in.

"You know what I love about the Thawfestival Games?" Snotlout hopped off his dragon, all the medals he had won gleaming around his neck. "Winning. You wanna touch one of my medals, just to see how it feels to be a winner?"

"I-I think I'll pass."

"My family has never lost a Thawfest Games, _ever._ "

"Here we go," Reign sighed. Despite never participating herself, she had been there to witness every time Snotlout had won.

"Dragons or no dragons, I'll do what I do every year: bring glory to the Jorgenson clan. And you'll do what you do: embarrass yours." Snotlout laughed at me as he climbed up onto Hookfang. "Let's go, Hookfang." As the Monstrous Nightmare took off, Snotlout's foot got caught on Hookfang's saddle, and he ended up dangling from his neck as they headed back to train more.

"I will crush you all!" Reign shook her head and leaned against the other side of Toothless.

"You're really not participating again?" 

"Of course not. I'm not even close to competitive, and I have no one to compete for. There's no point." She smiled. "Besides, I like being here to cheer you on."

“Well, I’m glad there’s at least one of you.” 

“Oh, come on. Everyone else is here to cheer you on, too."

"They're just too busy cheering for Snotlout." She lowered her eyes at me and rested her hands on her hips.

"You're not changing my mind about any of this. I like it when it's just friendly 'competition' between just you and I, and I want to cheer you on." For a split second, she delicately rested her fingers on mine. "Don't push yourself too hard."

I finished shading the final piece of my design before grabbing my measuring tape and approaching Toothless. 

"Oh... kay." I began measuring his wingspan, when my father came into my room.

"What are you two working on?" I flashed a proud smile.

"Just some ideas for Thawfest." 

"Right, right. Excellent." He awkwardly stood there, peering over my shoulder for a few solid seconds. Eventually, I sighed in irritation.

"So... did you need something, Dad?"

"Well, with the dragons, you could actually, well..."

"Beat Snotlout? Best the Jorgensons?" I was starting to get excited at the idea.

"Well, when you put it that way, it does have a nice ring." Awkward silence once again filled the space between us. "All right, then. I'll let you get back to, eh, whatever it is you two do." As he backed out of the room, my eyes rested on that drawing Reign had done, bringing a warm smile to my face.

"Let's finish this up, bud."

The people cheering all around the arena (that's what the Dragon Academy was for the day) provided both a rush of adrenaline and a sinking pit in my stomach. This was it, Thawfest was officially beginning.

"Let the Thawfestival Games begin!" my dad announced loudly, releasing a bunch of Terrible Terrors into the air.

"Hey, Hiccup!" I turned around to Reign approaching me and smiling. "I, uh, wanted to wish you good luck. And since I can't be right next to you to do that, I, uh, made you this." She removed something shimmering from the bag on her belt and handed it to me. "Good luck!" She ran out to join the rest of the crowd up at the top, and while I only had a minute before the festivities started, I decided to look down at what she gave me.

On one side, it was a scale that Toothless had shed. The black material caught the light and shone against my palm. When I flipped it over, a purple scale was sewn onto the other side. I smiled to myself, then up where Reign was.

Shriek and Toothless' scales were sewn together.

I undid the clip and attached it to my belt as the others ran over to the starting positions for the first event. After a moment to psych myself up, I joined them, individual cheers fading into the booming roar of the crowd.

"The contestants are lining up for the Sheep Lug," Mulch announced to everyone.

"It's a good day for lugging sheep, Mulch." Bucket's voice was barely audible over the crowd.

"Well, Bucket, everyday's a good day for lugging sheep." Gobber slapped a sheep around my shoulders, causing me to dip under the sudden force and weight. I made a noise of disgust as I looked over to see Snotlout spit in his hands and rub it all over his face. "On your mark... get set..." Mulch struck Bucket's bucket and everyone started dashing toward the finish line. I pushed myself, and managed to cross the line third before I collapsed. "The first point of the Thawfest Games goes to Snotlout!"

"Right where you belong," Snotlout scoffed. "Down at my feet." He extended a hand down to help me up, but as soon as I reached out to take it, he yanked it away. "Oops! Too slow. As usual." I sighed and managed to get myself up from the ground. Snotlout demeaned me every year, and even though we were good friends now, there was still a large sting to it. I brushed the scale pinned to my belt, then prepared for the next event. As soon as things were set up, we were all helped up onto the large log.

"Next up is our traditional Log Roll event."

"Enjoy your face plant," Snotlout laughed, taunting me. As soon as he was finished stretching out, Snotlout began to run, starting the event. Despite having never done this with a metal leg before, I managed to be one of the last standing, to the point where it was down to Snotlout and I. However, the sudden momentum Tuffnut spinning around on the log was creating threw me off, and I fell to the ground. 

"Another point goes to Snotlout!"

"That's my boy!" I felt something yank on me and pull me out from the pile of bags I had been thrust into.

"Ow." I looked over to see my dragon giving me curious eyes. "Thank you, Toothless." 

The final event of the day had been set up- by far the most dangerous and meticulous. Once I managed to get the axe off the ground, I gripped the handle between my hands as though my life depended on it.

"The next event is the Axe Throwing contest, where accuracy is supreme!" Snotlout went first, tossing the axe as though it were nothing and hit it right in the dead-center of the target.

"Bulls-eye!" Astrid and Fishleg's axes clashed together, sending them tumbling down right in front of the pair. "And they go- ooh..." The twins spun in circles, launching their axes somewhere into the crowd, hopefully not hurting anyone. "Watch out, there!" 

It was my turn. I stared at the target and took a deep breath, steadying myself before launching the weapon. It was on a promising path, heading straight for the center, when it began to descend down and fell just short of hitting it. After laughing at me, Snotlout marched over and picked up my axe.

"Here's how it's done, Dragon Boy." Snotlout tossed every single axe straight into the target.

"Showoff," I scoffed. Around me, people began to clean up for the day and everyone made their way out of the arena, except for myself, Snotlout, and Reign, who came down to meet me. "Well, dead last."

"Wow, I have all the points _and_ the best-looking picture? Unfair!" I could feel my frustration mounting. 

"Oh, have your fun now. Tomorrow, everything changes. Right, bud?" Toothless purred.

"I can't wait, because Hookfang and I? It's like boy and dragon have become one. We're like a Bragon, or a Droy." He jumped onto Hookfang, who roared suddenly and took off. "Or a Snotfang!" 

"Yeah? Well, tomorrow, you'll have to deal with... Hictooth!"

"'Hictooth?'" I turned to look at Reign, who was crossing her arms at me.

"Yeah, it's not my snappiest comeback."

"Why are you letting yourself get caught up in this?" That wasn't quite the direction I was expecting her to take the conversation in.

"Because, for the first time ever, I have a chance to beat Snotlout. To quiet him down."

"Snotlout, Snotlout! Oy! Oy! Oy!" he cheered as he soared over us.

"Good point." She walked over to her affectionate Thunderdrum. "I have to admit, it would be nice to see someone else with a Thawfest medal." She patted Shriek's side, and the two of them took off, heading back home, I would assume.

"You've spiked your last sheep, Snotfang. Tomorrow's a new day."

"Welcome to Day Two of the Thawfest Games! Let the dragon events begin!"

"It's a good day for lugging sheep, Mulch." He stared at Bucket in disbelief for a few seconds before moving on. 

"First up, the Hurdles!"

Any nerves that I had yesterday had melted away. I was confident when it came to dragons, and I knew I couldn't lose to the likes of Snotlout, no matter how hard he trained.

"Hurdles, Schmurdles. I could make it over those things in my sleep," Snotlout announced confidently. He really didn't understand what was going on here.

"Be my guest."

"You don't go _over_ them, Snotlout," Astrid informed him, "you go under them."

"Duh. I knew that."

"And first up is Fishlegs!" Mulch struck the bucket, and Fislegs and Meatlug slowly started toward the row of hurdles. Unfortunately, they couldn't even make it through one. 

"Uh, guys? A little help over here! It's okay, girl. This just isn't our event."

People came over to help Meatlug and Fishlegs out from beneath the hurdles, allowing Astrid and Stormfly to take their turn. The pair navigated their way through gracefully at first, until Astrid smacked her head against one of the hurdles, taking them out of the event. Next were the twins, who couldn't determine which way to steer Barf and Belch, causing them to get stuck.

"Where's your book, Hiccup?" Snotlout taunted. "You might want to take notes." Snotlout was overconfident, and ended up hitting his head against every single one of the hurdles. He made it through every single one of them, but it didn't count because he technically didn't clear them.

This was our time to shine.

"Let's show 'em how it's done, bud." Toothless and I zipped underneath the hurdles like a flash of lightning.

"And Hiccup makes a perfect run!" My spirits suddenly brightened.

"Did you hear what he said? Perfect! I-I believe those are my first Thawfest points ever! I just realized something: I like beating Snotlout. I-I feel taller. Am I taller? Never mind, don't answer that." Snotlout landed beside me with determination, clearly frustrated at the results.

"Don't get too excited," he snapped, holding up a single finger. "You know what this is? Still the number of wins I need to end this thing. And you know what this is?" He held up a second finger. "The number of chances I have."

"Oh, yeah? Well you know what this is?" I formed my hand into an 'o' shape. "The size of your brain. No, wait." I made the circle even smaller. "That's much better."

"Like you've ever seen my brain. Come on, Hookfang." I looked back to see Astrid glaring at me.

"What? He started it... when we were five." We flew down to get ready for the next part of the contest. 

"Next, we have the Freestyle Event! Contestants and their dragons show off their style and abilities!"

The twins were up first, demonstrating what they called 'The Iron Split." However, Tuffnut ended up falling into an actual split and was unable to get back up, losing him and his sister almost all of the points they could have gotten. Fishlegs and Meatlug stuck with simple circles, yet somehow, Fishlegs still got lauched off of his dragon. Astrid's performance was impressive as she used Stormfly as a sort of balance beam to do flips and acrobatic feats.

Now, it was our turn. I flew Toothless over to a sea stack not too far from Berk, so that the judges could see that we were still there, then quickly zoomed toward another one. At the last second, I pulled on Toothless, shooting us up and causing us to do a few flips over the stack. 

"Woo-hoo! Yeah, baby!" We landed back near the arena just in time for Snotlout's turn.

"I hear Snotlout's gonna try a trick called 'The Rings of Deadly Fire,'" Tuffnut ogled. "No one's ever tried it before."

"Yeah, because it's too dangerous."

"No, it's because he just made it up."

"I'm probably gonna win just for coming up with this." Snotlout launched Hookfang into the air and shot him toward the wooden rings that had been set up for his trick. The Nightmare lit the rings on fire, but as soon as he started to get closer to them, he panicked and threw Snotlout off of him, straight into the rings.

"I get the rings and the fire part, but where's the death? I feel cheated." Another point was added next to my head.

"Wow, Snotlout, your dad looks really mad right now." We both looked up at Spitelout, who was glaring down at his son.

"What do you know? He always looks like that. Do you really think you have any shot at beating me?"

"As a matter of fact, I _do_ have a shot at beating you."

"Do not."

"Do, too."

"Do not."

"Do, too! Think about it: Toothless is a Night Fury, and I'm the best rider. How can I possibly lose?"

"Because that's what you do! I win, you lose!"

"Check the scoreboard, Snotlout. Not anymore." Snotlout turned around before angrily stuttering and stomping away.

"What was that about?" My heart jumped, not having heard Reign approach me.

"Just rattling cages." I started to walk away from her.

"Since when do you rattle cages?" 

Things were finally set up for the finally event of the day, and I could feel the power of the adrenaline rushing over me.

"The contestants are lined up for the Fly and Shoot, where contestants shoot down their foes and spare their friends." Little, fake people popped up in front of a miniature model of the village. Toothless and I took off at the strike of the bucket, ready to shoot down the targets as they appeared. 

"Outcast, bud!" I cried as one of the fake people came up from behind a 'rock.' Toothless shot a purple plasma blast that exploded the figure, then another one popped up. "No, Toothless! She's a friend!" We landed and snuck our way around a formation. Suddenly, Toothless shot back up into the air and blasted at an Outcast I hadn't seen. "Thanks, bud. I didn't see that one."

"Hiccup and Toothless come through with a perfect score!"

Snotlout and Hookfang took their turn, and although things seemed to be going well at first, some ash from a blast got in Hookfang's face, and he ended up setting some children figurines on fire. He then swooped down and started lighting the fake houses on fire.

"This does not look good for the reigning Thawfestival champion."

"Snotlout, Snotlout! Oy! Oy! Oy!" the twins cheered. Once Snotlout was able to land, we were escorted to the platform where the winners usually stood. A third point was added next to my head, and I stared in disbelief for a moment. I couldn't believe I'd managed to pull into a tie.

"And for the first time in Thawfest history, we have a tie! Tomorrow, these two young Vikings will go head-to-head in an event to decide the Thawfest champion." We both waved at the crowd of people.

"Hi... I can't believe how lucky you are. You don't even belong on this stage with me." He stormed away as he kept a face for the crowd.

"That's it. Keep talking, Snotlout, as your family's winning streak goes up in flames... just like your Rings of Deadly Fire." I stood face to face with Reign, who looked pretty irritated, for whatever reason. Snotlout whipped around to glare at me, stuttering before kicking out his foot and marching away even faster. "Hey, what's the matter? Yak got your tongue?"

"Hiccup."

"Oh, he's crumbling under the pressure, I can feel it!" I slowly turned to face her again, to be greeted by her sour expression darkening. "What?" She quickly crumbled into a sad defeat.

"You know what I always liked about you, Hiccup? You were always a gracious loser. Who knew you'd be such a lousy winner?" Her words stung as she turned on her heel to leave me alone.

"'Lousy winner...'" I muttered as I hammered away on a new rod for Toothless' tail. "I'll be a great winner!" Toothless growled in interest as I dipped the rod into cold water. "You see this, bud? Lighter, thinner. Oh, this'll help us fly faster and turn quicker." I attached the rod and stood. "I also stripped down your saddle. Light as a feather." I reached over and snatched a new tail fin I had made. "But this! This is what's gonna make the most difference. A tail as thin as paper and even stronger than before." For whatever reason, Toothless started growling at me. "We're gonna be able to cut and turn better than we ever have. Snotlout won't stand a chance."

The time had finally come. The sun was rising in the distance, and I was ready to best Snotlout in a race. 

"Remember, son. No pressure." Despite what my dad said, I knew there was a lot of pressure behind whether I won or not. This could be the first time the Haddocks won the Thawfest Games, and I didn't want to screw it up.

"Snotlout!" I turned around to see Spitelout confronting his son as he prepared for the race. 

"Hey, Dad. Just stretching out the hammies, you know?"

"Did you ever hear the story of the time I almost lost the Thawfest Games?"

"No, I never did."

"That's right... because it never happened! No Jorgenson has ever come close to losing the Thawfest Games. Don't you be the first." We both watched in a terrified stupor as he stalked away.

My hand accidentally brushed the scales Reign had given me before, and her words started to come back to me. 'Lousy winner... lousy winner...' It was playing in my head over and over again as I watched Snotlout get ready to race. She was right... and I knew what I needed to do, now. 

People started to gather around as the sun got higher over our heads, and soon, the tie-breaker games were in full swing. 

"Welcome to the final deciding event of this year's Thawfest Games: The Obstacle Course Race! Take it away, Gobber!"

"The race will start here in the stadium, where, after the Log Dodge and the Cliff Climb, Hiccup and Snotlout will get on their dragons, loop around the flagship anchored around the coast, slam through the sea stack maze, and head back here. The first one to cross that finish line will be the winner!" Carefully, I approached Snotlout as he was stretching himself out.

"Hey, uh, can I talk to you for a second?"

"No," he snapped.

"Okay. Uh... I just wanted to say have a good race, and may the best Viking win." I outstretched my hand for him to shake, but of course, he didn't take it. 

"Oh, he will. Don't your worry your scrawny little self about that. See you at the finish line, Hiccup, or maybe I won't."

"All right, I tried. If that's how you want it..."

"That's _exactly_ how I want it." I shook my head and made my way to the starting line, suddenly deciding that I wanted to win. Forget everything I had decided, I had the chance to make my dad proud. 

"Vikings and dragons, take your positions!" I took one last deep breath. "On your mark..." Snotlout and I crouched down. "Get set... And... Go!" We both started to run, and almost immediately, Snotlout struck me to get me out of the way. 

"Out of my way!" While I attempted to compose myself again, Snotlout rushed up the Log Dodge with almost no problem. I was significantly, but with Toothless' modifications, I could catch up in the race. 

As I climbed the cliff, Snotlout waved down at me and took off, momentarily distracting me from the rocks that were being tossed in my direction. Terror struck me as I lost my grip and started to slide down the side of the cliff. Desperately, I struggled to find a hand-hold, but when I couldn't find one, my leg caught in the rock and I was able to stabilize myself. The crowd cheering spurred me up the side to Toothless. 

"Okay, bud. We've got a lot of ground to make up." I climbed onto the back of my Night Fury. "Let's go!" As soon as Toothless took off, the wind stung my face with how fast we were moving. In no time, we caught up to Snotlout and Hookfang, who decided it would be a good idea to zip over our heads.

"Hey! How's that feel? Ha, ha, ha!" I shook my head and got ready to win this race. 

"Okay. Let's see what this new tail can really do." I shifted my metal foot back to fan out the tail, causing us to shoot forward, right behind Snotlout. I maneuvered to try and pass him, but as soon as I tried, he cut in front of me. "Move over!"

"Yeah, okay!" he scoffed. As I tried to come up the side, we collided and slammed up against the rocks that were boxing us in. At the last second, the two of us had to pull away and caused me to veer off course. Although it was a longer route, Toothless' modifications allowed me to catch up quickly, and I could practically taste victory. 

"Okay, bud. Let's finish this." Quickly, we dashed past Snotlout, and although at first, I had a smile on my face, it was quickly wiped away by Snotlout's terrified expression.

"No, I can't lose... I can't lose... Aah, I can't lose!" 

That was the moment when everything hit me.

"What am I doing?" I made up my mind. "I'm sorry, Dad." I flicked my foot to close Toothless' tail, and as soon as we lost control and landed among a small forest, Snotlout zoomed up above and crossed the finish line.

"And Snotlout is the winner of the Thawfest Games!" I pulled Toothless up and we made our way back to the arena.

"Nice flying, Snotlout," I complimented as we made our way up onto the platform.

"Yeah." He stuck his hand out for me to shake. "You put up a good fight..." As soon as I reached out to take it, he snatched it away. "But not good enough!" We both stood before my dad, the games officially coming to a close. 

"It's been a spectacular Thawfest Games. Perhaps the best ever. These two young men have put on quite a show. But alas, there can be only one champion." A slow drum roll began to crescendo. "The Thawfest dynasty continues. The winner, and still champion- Snotlout!" The crowd erupted into cheers as my dad placed a medal around Snotlout's neck. "You did your family proud." He cast his glance over to me and smiled with that glimmer in his eyes.

"Snotlout, Snotlout! Oy! Oy! Oy!" Snotlout rushed to his Monstrous Nightmare and started to run around the arena. I was in such a daze that I didn't notice Reign had made her way down until she punched me to get my attention.

"Ow! What?" I demanded.

"I know what you did," she teased.

"Yeah, I lost. As usual." I glanced up at her to see if she bought it, but her expression said otherwise. 

"No. You threw the race."

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about, Reign." She smirked at me and her eyes gleamed. "Snotlout was just the better Viking today."

"No, Hiccup. No one was a better Viking than you today." 

I was caught off guard as she reached out and grabbed onto my shoulder, pulling me flush against her before kissing me. I was too paralyzed to act at first, but as soon as I could, I reached out and gently touched her cheek before she pulled away, cheeks bright red. 

"You, uh... think anyone saw that?" I shrugged and grabbed her hand.

"Oh well if they did." She flashed a bright smile at me and leaned her head against my shoulder.

_Yep, second again. Some things never change. But I guess some things are more important than winning. Like being a good friend. Even if the friend is..._ that _guy._


	13. (Reign)

_Living with dragons has its ups... and it's downs. You need to stay calm, keep a clear head. Not always easy with Vikings. In our own way, we're very reasonable. But when a problem is caused by something Vikings don't understand, they lose all sense of reason. And that can become very dangerous._

Gobber, Chief Stoick, Hiccup, and I clashed our cups against each others' in celebration. We'd finally built dragon perches that wouldn't collapse under the weight of even the biggest dragons. Now, it was time to celebrate.

"Perches for dragons. Some of your best work," Chief Stoick gushed. From under the table, Hiccup grabbed my hand and squeezed it. The metal perches had been my idea, Hiccup's design, modified with Gobber's input. However, Hiccup did nothing but gush over the work I had put into it. "Although, we may need to move the one over the well." I sniffed the liquid in my cup and grimaced.

"Oh! Duly noted." He moved his hand from laced in mine to around my shoulders.

"And the perches are just the beginning." Before Hiccup could drink from his cup, his father slammed his hand down on it and slowly started to drag it away. "We can build landing areas for them, maybe even stables in the caves underneath the village, and-"

"Easy, son. Remember, Berk is still for people."

"Vikings before dragons." My heart rate increased as a rumble of thunder lolled in the distance. Toothless looked up at Gobber, clearly understanding what he had said. "Yeah, I said it. Deal with it."

A crescendo of thunder sent Toothless sprinting up the stairs, and set my hands shaking. The three men jumped from their seats and opened the door to stare at the storm, while I remained glued to my seat. I was making steps to recover from my fear of thunderstorms, but they were little, baby steps that would take time. 

With what bravery I had in this moment, I flickered my eyes to the spaces in the doorway between the bodies. Flashes of lightning were striking the shimmering dragon perches and sending shimmering tendrils throughout them.

"The lightning is hitting everywhere!" Hiccup observed.

"It doesn't usually strike here in the village."

"Thor must be angry. The only other time I can remember lightning ever striking Berk-"

"Barnstat," Chief Stoick and Gobber said at the same time.

"Barn-who?"

"Jurgen Barnstat, drifter. Sailed into town, he was stealing from women and old men."

"To punish him, Thor gave him a lightning bolt right to his helmet. He was fixing the mast on his ship to make an escape," Gobber laughed. 

"By the time Thor was finished with him, our whole fleet was on fire."

"We shipped him off the island, and Thor hasn't hit the village since."

"You threw him off the island?" Hiccup asked. "Pretty harsh..." Lightning began to travel from the metal perches to the wood of homes, lighting them aflame and causing mass panic. 

"Gobber." The chief and Gobber rushed off to help people out of their homes, followed by Hiccup and Toothless, while I remained paralyzed in my chair. My mind raced and my body rocked back and forth, attempting to comfort myself in any way possible. Another crash sent my anxiety spiking, shivers sent down to my toes. 

_"Reign, come here."_

_I quickly turned around to see my brother's open arms waiting for me. I whined fearfully and rushed into them, sobbing and shivering._

_"Hey, hey, shh... I'm here." The words got choked up in my throat, refusing to spill what I wanted to say. "It's okay, Reign. It's just Thor getting rid of the bad people."_

_"B-Bad people?" I managed to gasp._

_"The bad people who try to hurt us." He gently stroked my hair. "You're safe... you're safe."_

_"What a-about Mommy and Daddy?"_

_"They're helping our people. They'll be back soon, sister." He looked down at me. "Go get in bed. I'll tell Dad to come to you as soon as he comes back."_

"Reign!" 

I looked up and out the door to see Astrid grabbing onto my arm, trying to get me out of my chair. "Come on, you have to go to the Great Hall in case the house gets struck." I strained my ear, but the storms had seemed to pass.

"I don't hear anything, Astrid."

"It's just a break in the storms." She sighed. "Besides, Hiccup needs you." That caught my attention.

"What happened to Hiccup?"

"Just come on. He'll catch you up." I nodded and got onto the back of Stormfly, allowing Astrid to take me out into the fray. As soon as we reached the Great Hall, another flash of lightning flew across my vision, causing me to grip tighter to the girl in front of me as I listened to what was going on. 

"Thor's angry at us because of the Night Fury." Mildew's words were drawn-out, dramatic, and inaccurate. Not that this was anything new for him, of course. "You all saw it." Villagers began to agree with what Mildew had said. I flinched as thunder crashed.

"What? No! This is ridiculous!" Hiccup protested.

"If we don't act now, well... need I remind you of Barnstat?" People gasped and expressed concerns to those around them.

"You're right, all of you," Chief Stoick declared. "Thor _is_ angry, but I don't believe he's angry at Toothless."

"That's right! Have you all forgotten what Toothless has done for this village?"

"Well, then who do you suppose he's angry at?" Mildew snapped. 

"I don't presume to know Thor's mind, Mildew. But we will find a way to soothe his anger."

The next morning, there was a small break in the horrible string of storms, but only temporarily. I had gotten no sleep, and was almost completely unaware of everything around me because of that. 

"Another storm is coming."

Like I said: _almost_ completely unaware.

"What?" I reached out and grabbed onto Hiccup's arm, looking around at the sky as lightning slithered along the cloud cover.

"Thor tore a hole in the Great Hall," Tuffnut pointed out. "Maybe he's hungry. I know I am."

"We need to make Thor happy. What do you get the god of thunder and lightning?"

"In the past, I know Thor's enjoyed a sacrifice or two." I shook my head at Fishlegs.

"Let's sacrifice Tuffnut."

"Okay," he shrugged. "What time should I be there? There better be fire involved."

"Nobody's gonna be sacrificed," Hiccup protested.

"Not yet, anyway."

"I had an aunt that was cursed by Odin once," Astrid started. "She had to pay tribute to him by sailing to the end of the Earth."

"Did it work?"

"I don't know. I guess she couldn't find it, because she kept showing up from the opposite direction." I sighed. There went that option.

"The gods have never been mad at anyone from our family." Panic crossed Fishlegs' face as he raced over to rap his fingers against a wooden set of stairs. "Knock on wood, hop on one foot, slap a Jorgenson." Rather than hitting Snotlout, Fishlegs merely tapped his shoulder. In response, the boy pushed him and turned to our group confidently.

"If I were Thor, I would want a giant statue..." He mounted onto Hookfang's head and stood with proud posture, "...of myself, Snotlout, as Thor."

"You do know we're trying to make him happy."

"Exactly." Snotlout began kissing his biceps, while the rest of us grimaced in repulsion. 

"I think I just threw up in my mouth..."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Astrid and I looked at Hiccup with a mix of concern and confusion.

"It's not an idea, it's a reflex."

"No. What- No. I-I mean the statue." Astrid gagged for the second time.

"There I go again."

"No, not Snotlout! Thor!"

"Hmm. Berk has never given Thor a statue," Fishlegs pointed out. 

"Well, then it's high time we did." I sighed and crouched down against Toothless as another rumble of thunder echoed.

"I don't like this..."

Everyone was buzzing as Hiccup got ready to unveil the statue. I would have stood up there with him, had the storms not been within arms reach at the moment. The statue better have worked, otherwise, I was in for a lot more sleepless nights in a row.

"Attention! Attention, everyone!" People hushed each other and turned to face Hiccup as he stood before the covered statue. "Okay, so, I know we're not exactly Thor's favorite people right now, but I am confident that this beautiful statue will go a long way toward getting us back in his good graces. So, without further ado..."

Hiccup pulled back the cloth to reveal an impressive and massive statue of Thor, shimmering underneath the limited sunshine we had. People gasped and whispered in awe, with words of hope sprinkled throughout.

"Well done," Chief Stoick complimented us. "Thor will appreciate this tribute, and will smile upon us once again!" Cheers arose, and the people moved closer to the statue to get a better look at it. 

"You really think that this is enough to appease the mighty Thor, while you allow a Night Fury in your midst?" Mildew scoffed, bringing down the mood as usual. "You're fools! All of ya!" 

Thunder rumbled loudly above us, and everyone scattered to take cover as the next system of storms moved in. Hiccup and Toothless quickly ushered me into their home, and lightning struck everything it could, quicker and more furiously this time. 

"Unbelievable. Even more lightning than the last storm," Hiccup sighed as he held me to help ease my shaking. 

"I don't understand! We gave Thor a giant statue!" Gobber slammed the door shut to shelter us.

"It was a gallant effort, son, but it looks as though this is not what Thor wanted." As soon as another rumble of thunder echoed, Gobber slid away from Toothless.

"Gobber, what are you doing?"

"Eh... I love Toothless... I'm just erring on the side of caution." Toothless lowered his head in sadness and purred.

"Don't worry, bud. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. No matter what some people think!" He glared right at Gobber, who sheepishly glanced at the boy. However, I could see that Hiccup's confidence was starting to crumble as the storm got more intense and he crouched beside his dragon. "Y-You don't really think Thor is angry because of Toothless, do you?"

"Of course I don't." There was a sudden knocking at the door that caused me to jump.

"Open up, Stoick! We've come for the Night Fury!"

"But I'm afraid they do." Hiccup stood and started to approach the door, but his dad cut him off with his arm. "Get Toothless to a safe place, I'll try to reason with them." He ran after his dad and tried to stop him. 

"But-"

"Just go!"

"Safe travels, old friend." I managed to scoff at Gobber before being ushered upstairs by Hiccup, _even closer to the lightning._ My breathing started to increase as I thought of being closer to the biggest source of my anguish. I covered my ears as we jumped out the window and another crash of thunder shook the ground. 

A mob of people were pressing themselves against Hiccup's front door, preventing us from escaping the old fashioned way. The Night Fury let out a worried warble, backing away from the hut slightly. 

"Don't worry, bud. It's you and me." I jumped as more thunder rumbled, and tried my best to catch footing as Hiccup dragged me behind Toothless to a safe hiding place. 

"We can h-hide Toothless in the c-cove for now," I suggested quietly.

"They'll just find him. No. We have to leave." My fear was diluted by those words. This whole 'we' have to leave situation sounded familiar, but something told me it was in different context this time.

"'We?'"

"He can't make it on his own. And I wouldn't want him to. I'm going with him, Reign."

"But you'll come back, right?"

"Yeah, eventually. When they all realize this didn't happen because of Toothless."

I was at a crossroads. 'Eventually' could mean tomorrow or years from now, and I wasn't so sure I wanted to wait to find out. But at the same time, I knew Hiccup was willing to do anything to protect Toothless, and this was one of those things. It came down to the risk of losing someone and a dragon I cared about very deeply, or the loss of only the dragon leaving a hole in our lives indefinitely. And as regretful as I was to say these next words, I knew they were what had to be said.

"You better go."

Overwhelming sadness washed over me as Hiccup stared at me for a moment, then turned and hopped on Toothless to get him away. Almost as soon as they were gone, the thunder and lightning intensified, and for the first time in years, I felt afraid _and_ alone. I stood helpless and exposed as horror and loud noises crashed and crumbled around me.

If I were going to get over my fear at any time, it was now. I had to suck it up, be brave, stop letting this force of Thor get to me. I was without my biggest crutch to lean on when I was afraid, forced to stand on my injury and walk to help it get better.

Fear was replaced by anger as the mob, led by Mildew, approached me.

"Where's the boy?" he demanded. "And more importantly, where's the dragon?"

"I don't know, Mildew," I snapped, "but you got your wish. Hiccup and Toothless are gone."

"Oh, bah! Find the Night Fury, all of you!" The mob turned and headed somewhere else in a vain attempt to locate Hiccup and Toothless. As soon as they were gone, I glanced out over the horizon, then decided I should probably go check on Shriek. I didn't know how she'd respond to storms, as she'd never been on Berk for one, and while now wasn't the _best_ time to find out, it was better than never. I raced back toward where Astrid and I lived, and around back to find Shriek cowering against Stormfly.

"Looks like we both have the same fear, huh, girl?" I made my way over to my Thunderdrum and pet the top of her head to soothe her, resting up against her large, flat body for my own comfort. "We're gonna be on our own for a while, girl. I-I don't know how long, but... Hiccup and Toothless are gone for now." 

She seemed to understand what I was saying, and nuzzled closer to me. We stood against the storms together for now, waiting until the day the pair would return to Berk. I was doubtful the people would change, but Hiccup had to come back eventually, right?

And in that moment, my fear wasn't the merciless hand of Thor coming down on me for the things I thought I remembered my family doing. It wasn't the chaotic crescendos of thunder and haphazard flashes of lightning. Because as chaos rained down around me, I watched as villagers wheeled a pitch-black dragon with merciful, green eyes, chained down to a plank of wood, down toward the docs, where a boat was ready to ship him off. I watched as a boy who was a symbol of comfort was roughly brought back into the village to fend for himself. 

"Come on, girl." Everything fearful and heart stopping had faded from my mind as I gathered up the rest of us and ran to where I had last seen Hiccup. He was holding some sort of metal weapon, a look of determination on his face.

"Hiccup! They've got Toothless! They're about to float him out to sea!"

"I know. Why do you think I have this?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ooh, tough one. How many guesses do we get? Five?" 

"Okay." He suddenly grabbed my arm and started to drag me away. "Reign, fly me to the docks."

"Uh... okay?" I helped him up onto Shriek and flew her as fast as I could to the docks, knocking over a few mob members as we circled to land.

"Stop!" I watched cautiously as he jumped off and stood before the mob. "Stop! You could get rid of Toothless, you could throw him off the edge of the world, but it's not going to stop this lightning from destroying Berk." He held up the weapon for everyone to see. "It's the metal. The lightning is hitting the metal." People groaned in protest. "Just think about it. We never had a lightning storm like this until we put up those perches, that statue, right? And they're all made of metal!" I stopped for a moment to think back on the events of the past couple of days.

He was right. Everything that the lightning had struck had been made of metal. It wasn't the wrath of Thor, it was some sort of... science.

"Oh, bah! You ever heard of anything so insane?" I glared at Mildew from my dragon. Unfortunately for Hiccup and I, the mob would rather believe Mildew than him. Hiccup ran over to Toothless and held up his tail, revealing that his artificial tail wing had been burnt away, leaving only sizzling metal in its place.

"Y-You see? This is where the lightning struck Toothless. On this connecting rod... this _metal_ connecting rod." People still refused to change their minds. "Look, if you don't believe me, I can prove it!" I hoisted Hiccup up onto Shriek and tapped her to fly into the air. "Fly me up." I was wary to let him off on the mast of the ship, but he got off before I could stop him.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"'Sure?' Uh, that's a strong word. It's really more of a hunch." I shot him an unamused look. "I'll be fine. Go." I hovered there for a few seconds, then guided Shriek down onto the docks, all the while watching Hiccup, ready to jump should he need to be saved.

"Hiccup!" Chief Stoick cried, trying to get his son to come down. 

"You'll all see for yourselves! When I attach this metal rod to the top of this mast, the lightning will be drawn to-"

I watched in horror as the rod was struck by lightning, sending shocks throughout Hiccup that knocked him unconscious. His body fell limp and he plummeted into the sea below, likely to drown if I didn't do something now.

"Hiccup!"

But before I could, Toothless broke free from his restraints and dove into the water. The surface was too murky to see underneath, and those moments of waiting to know whether or not they would ever come back out were some of the most agonizing I'd ever experience in my life.

Thankfully, Toothless emerged from the sea , pulling Hiccup's body in his mouth.

"Son..."

Chief Stoick, Gobber, and I raced over to him, praying he was still alive. While the chief checked on Hiccup's breathing and heart rate, I crouched down and gripped tightly onto his hand.

"He's okay. He's going to be okay." I helped the two get him back home and into his bed, this time remaining there until he woke up. He shot up with a start and a gasp, touching his head almost immediately after as the pain hit him. Seeing that his owner was awake, Toothless rushed to Hiccup's side to sniff him and make sure he was okay.

"Toothless! What happened, bud?" Panic flashed in his eyes as he yanked back the blanket, looking down at his feet. "At least I didn't lose another one." The Night Fury nuzzled Hiccup affectionately. Before I had the chance to say anything, Chief Stoick and Gobber rushed up the stairs.

"My boy! You're all right!" He picked up his son as though he were two years old and hugged him. "You took a lightning bolt to the head."

"Just like Barnstat. Except we won't be throwing you off the island."

"So everyone knows Thor wasn't mad at Toothless?"

"They do now."

"Until we figure out why Thor was angry at the metal, we're all walking on eggshells." We were all drawn outside by the banging and crashing sounds of the statue being dismantled.

"Oh, we worked so hard on that statue. Kind of a shame we just have to scrap it for parts."

"Well, maybe we don't have to. Why don't you take it to one of the high points on the island and leave it there?"

"Good idea, Chief," Tuffnut interjected. "I would've thought of it myself, but I'm not the chief."

"We'll handle that for you." I suspiciously watched Tuffnut and Snotlout walk away.

"I... better go with them." He took off after them, and the three boys used their dragons to carry the statue away to who knows where, returning laughing with mischievous grins. With my arms casually crossed, I approached Hiccup.

"And what exactly did you two do?"

"We just dealt with the statue," he answered innocently.

"Yeah, sure," I scoffed. The conversation took a quick turn as Hiccup's face shifted to one of concern.

"I'm sure the last few days must have been awful for you. I'm really sorry."

"I think I'm over it," I answered honestly. "I've got bigger things to worry about."

"I'd prefer you didn't worry at all."

"Yeah, well-" I reached over and kissed his cheek, "when your boyfriend goes around doing stupid stuff like fighting giant dragons and getting struck by lightning, you can't help but worry." He smiled at me. "I'm gonna go fly with Astrid for a while. I'll see you later."

_No matter how much things change around here, Vikings are still Vikings. They're not afraid to admit when they're wrong, and when they do, watch out. Because you'll be up to your ears in pie and smoked fish._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes okay I know technically Astrid and Hiccup aren't boyfriend and girlfriend in the first couple of seasons of Dragons, but things work slightly differently in my series in terms of the relationship, so I need that to be their status now.


	14. (Hiccup)

_Everybody has a past, even dragons. And sometimes, that past can come back to haunt them. And when it does, you're gonna need to be there for them._

A few of us stood around one of the many strange holes that had popped up overnight all over Berk. Toothless made his way over to it and sniffed the deep tunnel, then began to roar and rear wildly. 

"Whoa, hey!" I stretched my arms out to calm my dragon. "It's just a hole, bud."

"It's not just a hole! It's like an underground village!" I looked down in alarm at the sound of Bucket's voice coming from the bottom of the hole. How did he get down there?

"Bucket! There you are," Mulch sighed. "I've been looking for you all night!"

"Sorry, Mulch. But I think I finally found it: my happy place!" The ground rumbled beneath us, and Bucket was shot out of the hole in a cloud of dust. 

"Are you all right, Bucket?" my dad asked.

"Not so happy anymore." 

"What happened?"

"Something pushed me out! Something's down there! Something big!" Toothless growled again before jumping down into the hole, and soon enough, the ground started trembling, and a sound almost like thousands of whispers began to seep through the cracks.

"What is that sound?" Reign muttered, staring at the ground as though the answer would spell itself out for her.

"Eh, whatever it is, it's giving me the willies!" Everyone backed up as the tremors got more violent, and suddenly, a creature with blank eyes and thousands of teeth shot up in front of us.

"Whoa! Look at the size of that thing!" Snotlout marveled. 

"Do I have to?" Fishlegs quivered.

"Dragons, everyone!" Astrid ordered. The group got onto their dragons and prepared to fire, while I stared at it carefully, trying to figure out what it was.

"Uh, I don't like the way it's eyeballing me."

"Don't worry, it's not just you."

"Thanks, big relief." 

After taking the time to look around at everything, it dove back into the ground, tail flicking and cracking like a whip as it struggled to fit its large body back down below.

"What... was... that?"

"Whatever it was, I want one!" Reign shot Tuff a glare.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that was a Whispering Death."

"Whoa, great name. So much better than Zippleback."

"W-Where'd it go?" Bucket looked around nervously. "Why's it here? What's it gonna do to us? _Why aren't you slapping me to snap me out of this?"_

 _"_ Because I'm scared too, Bucket," Mulch answered honestly. The Whispering Death burst from the ground again, creating a fresh hole in the ground.

"Ah, it looks angry. Why don't you do that thing where you touch its nose and feed it grass?" There was no way I would be able to get close enough to this thing to gain its trust. And that whole 'feed it grass' bit was a little demeaning.

"Okay! Uh, Fishlegs, what do we know about the Whispering Death?"

"Boulder class; razor-sharp teeth, incredibly strong, hunts from underground," he shouted.

"Now I _really_ want one."

"So, how do we deal with this thing?"

"Stand back, everyone!" We all looked up to see my dad diving down on Thornado, clearly thinking this was the way to try and deal with this dragon. "Thornado's got something to say to this beast!" The large Thunderdrum shot out a sonic boom, but it didn't phase the Whispering Death for more than a split second.

"I don't think it's got its listening ears on!"

"All right, let's run this thing out of here." Those with dragons flew up to stand at my dad's side and help him at least get the rogue dragon back into the ground. Toothless suddenly emerged from the hole and started roaring and growling at the Dragon Riders. They pulled themselves back from the line of fire just as the Whispering Death dove at Toothless.

"Toothless!" I watched as it tackled my Night Fury, then as he fired back with several plasma blasts that missed. Toothless tried to fly and get up to the Whispering Death, but because he couldn't control his fake tail fin on his own, he was only able to get himself a few inches off the ground. As much as I hated the idea of entering a fight that could endanger my dragon, he was more likely to get hurt, or worse, by not being able to fly away.

"Toothless can't fly without me! He's a sitting duck!"

"Gobber, man the catapults," my dad ordered as he landed, "and when that thing is clear of Toothless, fire!"

"Dad, wait!" I ran over to Toothless. "Just let me help you, bud." As soon as I tried to mount him, he tossed his head to throw me away. "What? Toothless, wha-what's wrong?" I asked in complete disbelief. He looked back at me a couple of times before roaring loudly and bounding away.

"What was that all about?" Reign asked, appearing at my side.

"I have no idea." The Whispering Death suddenly shot out a couple of spines, and one got lodged in Toothless' leg. He growled in agony as he tried his best to stay as far in the air as he could go.

"Gobber!" Following the command, Gobber launched a couple of boulders right at the dragon, sending it back down into the ground. Once we were sure it was gone, I ran to Toothless and looked closely at his leg.

"Oh, no, you're hurt!" I hesitated to pull it out, but Toothless looked back at me with those big, affectionate eyes, telling me it was okay to get the spine out of his leg. He sniffed where the hole of the spine was, then took off out of nowhere, bounding up toward my hut to look out over the edge we lived on. "Toothless, wait!"

"Where's he going?"

"Probably running away to lick his wounds," Snotlout snorted. 

"It's not funny," I snapped back. "He could've been killed. He can't fly, remember?"

"And whose fault is that?"

"Seriously, did you just go there?" Reign snapped, coming to my defense as usual.

"Hey, I call it like I see it."

"Um, does anybody want to talk about what in the name of Thor just _happened_?" Fishlegs diverted.

"A dragon fight. Just another day on Berk."

"Uh, not really. It seemed like there was way more to it than that."

"He's right. The Whispering Death singled Toothless out."

"And Toothless wanted that dragon all to himself."

"Yeah, he certainly did." I looked over at my dragon again, intently watching the ground, waiting for the Whispering Death to spring up. "But why?"

"Uh, are we going to be tested on this? Because I'm completely confused."

"Well, don't look at me." I couldn't take my eyes off of Toothless. What could possibly be causing him to act like this? Normally, he only got like this with another dragon after we had discovered it was hostile, but he had dove into this one's home to seek it out.

"Come on, let's try to get him inside." Reign touched my arm to get my attention, then offered a smile.

I applied a salve to Toothless' wound when Reign went down to grab the dinner my dad had made for us. She had been here all day, trying to help me figure out what was going on. But the sun had now long set, and we were no closer to finding our answers than we were when we started.

"I-I really wish you could just tell me what was going on out there today," I sighed. I finished dressing the wound, and Toothless began growling at the footsteps that came up the stairs.

"Whoa, whoa, easy, bud. It's just Reign... and my dad." She flashed a smile and set the plates down on my desk.

"How's our wounded warrior?"

"He's still a little on edge," I sighed. My dad got closer to Toothless and gently pet the top of his head.

"Don't worry, Toothless. I think we showed that dragon a thing or two about uninvited guests on Berk. I don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon." My dad hesitated. "At least, I hope not."

"Yeah, me too," Reign sighed. My dad turned and left the room, giving Reign and I time to eat.

"Okay, that should do it, bud. You just need to take it easy."

"Then that means you have time to eat." Reign placed one of the plates in my hands, then sat down on the floor. After letting out a sigh, I joined her and began to shovel the fish into my mouth. "Whoa! Slow down, Hiccup. You're gonna choke." She reached out to move the fork from my mouth.

"What? You said I had time to eat, but never how _much_ time." She looked at me, then laughed and set down her food. "What now?"

"You- you've got a little something, right..." She gestured to the corner of her mouth, and I sheepishly brushed away the bits of food. "Don't be so embarrassed. It was cute."

"How was _that_ cute?" She shrugged and took a few more bites. "No, tell me." I sneakily picked off a piece of fish and chucked it at her.

"Wha-hey!" 

"You wouldn't tell me."

"You're mean." She picked up the piece and threw it back at me. "You deserved it." While she finished the rest of her food, I stared at Toothless, who was pacing and staring at the window. "Hey, we'll figure out what's going on." I looked at her and shook my head. 

"I just hope it's before he gets hurt any further." She squeezed my arm.

"I'll make sure of it." Reign sighed and got herself up from the floor. "I'll see you two tomorrow." Once I was finished, I took my dish downstairs and came up to get in bed, checking to make sure Toothless had settled down before allowing myself to fall asleep

The next morning, I woke up to find Toothless gone, likely having run after the Whispering Death. In a panic, I had gathered up everyone else and had them meet in the Academy, hoping to come up with some sort of solution. 

"Maybe Toothless just went for a morning flight? Oh, that's right, he can't," Snotlout taunted.

"Really?" Reign snapped. "You're going there _again_? Now-" She started to lunge at Snotlout, but before she could do anything, I stuck out my arm to stop her.

"Toothless must be looking for the Whispering Death. We find it, we find Toothless."

"What do we do if we find the Whispering Death first?" Fishlegs trembled.

"Well, we train him." As dangerous as it could be, it was the only logical idea we had left.

"You know he's got 'death' in his name, right?"

"Tuffnut kind of has a point..."

"Fishlegs, is there anything about the Whispering Death in the Book of Dragons that can help us?" Fishlegs opened the book and flipped through until he found the chapter on the Whispering Death.

"It can shoot razor-sharp spines from any part of its body."

"And how is that gonna help us?" Astrid sighed. 

"Well, it would _help_ if we stayed away from those."

"Or, we could get near them, and use Ruffnut as a human shield." She kicked her twin in the knee cap, causing him to recoil in pain. "Ow! My knee cap!" His attitude quickly shifted, as usual. "That's new... I like it."

"This dragon must have a weakness," I cut in, drawing the attention back to the issue at hand.

"Actually... no. Yeah, it says right here: 'no known weaknesses.'"

"Ha! I really love this thing." I had officially passed impatient at this point. I couldn't just sit here, knowing Toothless was alone and in danger with no way of quickly escaping.

"Okay, great. Can we go, please?" I jumped up onto Shriek. "We don't know how much time we have." Reign extended out her hand, allowing me to help her up onto her dragon so that we could get out of here and start the search for Toothless. 

"Don't worry, Hiccup. We'll find him."

Shriek took off, and we flew several laps around Berk, each time focusing on something different in hopes of finding Toothless. We were well into the afternoon, and clouds had rolled in to cover the sun, when I noticed a set of those giant holes in the ground, right next to each other.

"There, down below!" She nodded and directed her dragon down to the ground to further investigate. "Toothless?" I yelled into the holes. "Toothless!"

"How do we even know the Whispering Death made these holes?"

"So you think it might be the _other_ twenty five hundred pound, rock-eating dragon we're following?" 

"I know what you're- don't try to confuse me." I noticed something strange on the ground and reached down to pick it up.

"Look at this... He must have lost a tooth."

"Is it sharp? If it is, I want it. I like sharp."

"Yeah," Ruffnut agreed. "Sharp is good."

"Think about this: hundreds of those spinning together, ripping through dirt and tree root. Discarding rock like it's not even there." Though Fishlegs sounded excited at the idea, that was more concerning for me. That thing could easily do the same to Toothless.

Reign diverted her attention from the hole to Stormfly, who was growling at the dirt beneath her feet and picking them up. She nudged Astrid, who followed Reign's gaze to her distressed dragon.

“Stormfly, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong with you, dragon?” Tuff asked his Zippleback, who had begun to freak out as well. 

“Barf, settle down.” 

The thousands of whispers returned, just barely audible underneath the surface.

“Stop!” I ordered. “Listen.” Everyone silenced their concerns and strained their ears to hear the whispers I was hearing.

“Listen for what?”

“I don’t hear anything. What are we listening for?”

“Be quiet!”

“How are we supposed to hear anything over her yelling?” The whispers grew louder as they got closer, and the ground began shaking with intensity.

“The whisper...”

“Looks like we beat Toothless...”

“Yeah. We win,” Astrid deadpanned.

The Whispering Death burst from the ground, roaring bloody murder and clearly agitated that we had disturbed the ground above its nesting area.

“I’m not feeling like a winner...” It stopped inches in front of Fishlegs’ face, inspecting him up and down several times, as though trying to assess what he was. “Hi, um... like the teeth.” 

After roaring at the other dragons, the Whispering Death burrowed itself into the ground.

“I hate when he does that. Can you at least tell me why he does that?”

“Maybe to hunt? Maybe because it’s cooler?” We all stared at Fishlegs as he ran through the possibilities out loud. “Maybe to look for water? Or maybe because he can’t handle the pressure of everyone expecting him to always have the answers?” Everyone looked at each other after the sudden outburst.

“He’s losing it,” Tuffnut sang.

“I know. It’s awesome.” The dragon emerged right behind Fishlegs, causing him to flee.

“Can somebody hold it still? I wanna pet it.” Carefully, I decided to approach it. Of course, this didn’t go unnoticed by Reign.

“Do you actually have a plan, or are you just trying to get yourself killed?”

“If I can train it, it’ll leave Toothless alone,” I explained.

“Right, so you _are_ trying to get yourself killed.”

I stood my ground, ignoring Reign’s concerns and Snotlout’s discouragement. If I let them get inside my head, we’d just be right back to square one. I kept myself rooted in place, and as the Whispering Death started barreling toward me, I closed my eyes and stuck out my hand. Thankfully, the dragon stopped right before my hand, and didn’t barrel me over like I wasn’t there.

Carefully, I opened my eyes and stole the smallest glance at the dragon. It was sniffing my palm, getting closer and closer, but as soon as it almost touched, it whipped around and buried itself back into the ground yet again.

“Oh... kay...”

“Um, I know what you’re thinking, and the answer’s no.” Disregarding what Reign had just said, I jumped down into the hole. I knew she was worried, but at the moment, protecting Toothless was my priority.

The only light coming in was from the other holes it had made. There was really no way to see down these passages, so I’d really have to listen in order for this thing to not kill me. A queasy feeling settled over my stomach as I looked around, but luckily, Fishlegs came down to join me.

“Aw, thanks, Fishlegs. I kinda figured you’d be the last to volunteer,” I admitted.

“Yeah. I didn’t want you to have to face that thing all alone.” I growl slithered through the darkness, not too far away.

“This thing’s been busy.”

“Quick question: why are we down here again?” 

“This is where it spends all it’s time. There’s got to be something down here that can help us.”

I took a few steps closer to one of the passages, when a figure shot through, the sound of a whip cracking left behind.

“There it goes. Let’s follow it.” I expected Fishlegs to immediately join me at my side, but he just stood in place, nervously looking around. 

“Oh! You were talking to me?” I sighed.

“Fishlegs, new dragon. You love this stuff.” He hesitated a few more second before throwing his arms down against his side and following. 

“I hate that about me.” Carefully and quietly, we started to make our way down the tunnel. Considering how quickly it could move, the Whispering Death could very likely have been pretty far ahead of us at this point, but I had to try to catch it. I just had to.

Tree roots desperately clung to the crumbling soil above us as sunlight fought to provide illumination on the paths before us. Some tunnels that branched off were pitch-black, while others had a clear other side. It was almost like another world, hidden deep below the surface.

A snapping sound from a tunnel to our left caused us to spin around, gasping as two glowing eyes glared at us from the darkness. The creature glared at us for a few moments, before lazily falling from the hole, revealing itself to be merely a kidnapped sheep. As soon as we took a sigh of relief, however, the Whispering Death burst out from the wall with a screech. I grabbed Fishlegs and quickly pulled him into another tunnel, pressing myself against the wall in hopes of not being seen.

It slithered past us without noticing, but interestingly enough, when it came to a patch of light created by a hole, it hissed and moved as far away from it as it could. Astonished, Fishlegs cried out.

“Hiccup, did you see that?” Unfortunately for us, the Whispering Deatg heard that. It whipped around, causing me to press my hand against Fishlegs’ mouth to silence any scream that could have followed.

“Can it wait?” It slithered past again, not noticing us. “Let’s just hope it keeps going.” As soon as I said that, the dragon halted in its tracks, spiney rail blocking our escape.

“How’d that work out for us?” I held a finger to my lips to shush Fishlegs. We couldn’t blow this, or we’d be dead meat.

As we were waiting, Fishlegs shook my shoulder and pointed to a spot on the Whispering Death’s tail. I followed where his finger was going, and laid my eyes on what appeared to be a dragon bite.

The Whispering Death quickly snapped its tail as it slithered back into the darkness, finally leaving Fishlegs and I.

“Did you see that?” he asked excitedly.

“Was that a bite mark?”

“Not just any bite mark. That’s a Night Fury bite mark. I think I know why these two are looking for each other.” Things then started to make a lot more sense.

“They have a history.”

“A grudge,” Fishlegs confirmed.

“If that’s true, how long do dragons carry a grudge?”

“To the death...” That was it. I had to train this thing, and fast.

“Let’s get out of here before it comes back.”

“That is a really good idea.”

We started to run down the opposite end of the tunnel that the Whispering Death had gone down, but out of nowhere, it appeared in front of us, blocking our way. It tried to lunge at us, but because we were in a circle of light, it just ended up going around, giving us a chance to run.

“Hiccup! Fishlegs!” I looked up to see Reign’s worried expression staring down into the tunnel. As soon as she saw me, however, it switched to one of relief.

“Yup! Right here!” I called up.

“Did you see the Whispering Death? Was it cool?” Tuff pressed.

“Did you touch it?” his twin interjected.

“I wanna touch it.”

“Can we talk about this later? We _really_ need to get out of this hole!” The rumbling started to intensify again.

“Yeah, you do.” We both turned around to see a massive cloud of dust heading right for us.

“Fishlegs, you go first.”

“No argument here!” I hoisted Fishlegs up as high as I could.

“Grab my hand!” The weight was lifted from my shoulders as Fishlegs was pulled from the pit, and I turned around so I could get out. “Hiccup, hurry!” I jumped as high as I could to try and grasp Reign’s hand, but I kept falling just a few inches short.

“I can’t reach!” Just as I managed to grab her hand, I slipped from her fingertips and fell right back down to the bottom.

“Hiccup!” I wasn’t about to give up. I got myself right back up and reached out to grab her hand again. “Just a little more!”

“I’m trying!” I braced myself as the cloud got too close to escape. “Everyone stand back!” I shut my eyes as I was launched into the air.

Thankfully, rather than being greeted with the jaws of the Whispering Death, I felt the smooth scales of a Thunderdrum beneath me. Shriek delivered me back to the others as quickly as she could.

“Thanks, Reign.”

The dragon emerged and glared at me, screeching angrily.

“I don’t think it likes you in its hole,” Tuffnut observed pointlessly.

“Yeah, I got that.”

“Can we get out of here? Please?”

“No. I know I can train this thing. Anybody got some dragon nip?” Snotlout and Fishlegs quickly placed a few bushels of dragon nip into my hands. I took a deep breath, then slowly approached the dragon. “Don’t be afraid. I’m a friend.” I extended out the dragon nip. “Here, you’ll love this. All dragons love this.”

I was too quick to assume, however, because while the Whispering Death seemed like it would take the bait at first, it ended up blowing the dragon nip at every other dragon, subduing them, and thus getting rid of our best line of defense.

“Oh, great. Now we’re defenseless.”

“Any ideas? I’m throwing it wide open to the group.”

“I’ve got an idea. Run!” As cowardly as it seemed, it was essentially our only option at this point. We all started to run for cover under the trees, when the Whispering Death was suddenly tackled by a black blur.

“Toothless!” 

Toothless and the Whispering Death roared at each other, then it tried to whip Toothless with its tail. Luckily, my dragon was able to avoid getting hurt, and I tried one last time to get onto him. However, he just threw me off, so I tried to calm him.

“It’s okay, bud, it’s me. I know what’s going on with you and that other dragon. Let me help you.” I stretched my hand out, but he ignored it, instead dashing right back into the fight. “Toothless, come back!” 

Out of nowhere, he fired a plasma blast at my feet, keeping me from coming any closer to him. I looked at my loyal dragon in disbelief as he glared at me before dashing after the Whispering Death.

“Awkward...” I turned on my heel and approached the other dragons.

“Come on. We have to go after him.” 

“Hiccup...” I looked at Reign with crazy determination, and she quickly backed off from what she was initially going to say. “Can you at least explain?” She helped me up onto Shriek, and we started the search again.

“Fishlegs and I got a good look at that Whispering Death’s tail, and it had a Night Fury bite mark on it. We’re thinking Toothless and this thing got in some sort of fight, and now they’re settling grudges,” I rushed to explain.

“So Toothless has an arch enemy. Kind of like you and me.”

“Snotlout! You’re not my arch enemy!”

“Well, you’re mine.” I shook my head. There was no winning.

“He’s just trying to protect you,” Reign reasoned, attempting to comfort me.

“That’s not it. Toothless doesn’t want you around because this is between him and the other guy. He’s a fighter, like me. Not... whatever you are.” I braced myself for the impact of what was about to come out of my mouth.

“I never thought I’d say this... Snotlout, you’re right.” A confused look crossed his face. 

“Wait, huh? You guys heard that, right?” 

“It’s not a fair fight! If Toothless is gonna win, he has to fly, and he fly without me.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying we need to find him, and soon.” Reign shook her head for some reason, but pushed Shriek to dive closer to the ground and fly faster so we could find Toothless. We ended up circling back to the woods, when I saw him darting across the ground. “There he is! Let me down there.” Reign was hesitant, but she did it anyways. 

As soon as my feet touched the ground, I could tell Toothless heard me. His ear plates perked up, and when i got close enough, he turned around. The defensive, feral slits of his eyes expanded into the loving ones thsg recognized me, and he finally nuzzled into my palm.

“Hey, bud! You had me so worried there, for a while,” I admitted. “You haven’t been yourself lately. Glad to see you’re still you.” The ground began to tremble again as the Whispering Death closed in on us, and it shot up from the ground. “You could just walk away from this, bud.” Instead, he took a defensive stance and threw me off. “Let’s just go home.” He darted at the Whispering Death inside the trees.

“We were so close! I thought you had him!” Toothless fired a plasma blast at the Whispering Death, but ended up missing, and was smacked out of the air and onto his back. 

“He needs our help.” Reign hoisted me up onto Shriek and we got as close as we could to the fight, because all of a sudden, our dragons stopped in their tracks as Toothless growled.

“Come on, girl.” None of the dragons would move.

“Hookfang won’t budge!”

“I think ours is broken...”

“They know that this isn’t their fight, guys.” I watched in horror as the Whispering Death backed Toothless against a cliff and blasted away the land around him, trapping him.

“Toothless! Buddy... It’s gonna knock Toothless into the canyon!”

I had to do it. If he wouldn’t let me get on him by myself, I’d have to force myself on. And the best way for that was for him to catch me.

Pushing aside all fear, I closed my eyes and stepped out over the ledge, trusting Toothless would catch me.

“Hiccup!”

Sure enough, before I could hit the ground, Toothless swept under me to catch my body, and I was able to lock my feet into position.

“You save me, I save you. That’s how this works.”

With me riding him, Toothless was able to dodge everything the Whispering Death threw at him, and fire a plasma blast back at it. As things started to turn around, sunlight emerged from the cloud cover, and the Whispering Death screeched in agony before burying itself underground. Almost exactly like we had seen before.

“Sunlight, Hiccup! That’s its weakness!”

“Okay, bud. Let’s keep him above ground.” We shot into the air, then quickly dove down, while Toothless fired plasma blasts into each of the holes. It was finally shot from its underground hiding spot, and Toothless immediately tackled it to the ground. But as soon as he had subdued it, he opened his mouth to fire a fatal plasma blast. “Toothless, no!” 

Toothless hesitated, then removed itself from the dragon’s head, allowing it to shoot back into its home and leave us alone. The others flew to us as soon as it was gone.

“Oh, man. Toothless could have finished him off!”

“I guess all dragon grudges _aren’t_ to the death.”

“I guess I’ll have to change that in the book.” Everyone began the flight back home, while Toothless and I stuck around for a few seconds longer.

“Hey, bud, what do you say we go home?” He purred in agreement. “Besides, if Reign’s going to chew me out, it’s best if we’re safe in the village.”

And sure enough, as soon as we got back, I got quite the ear full.

“You’re insane!” she spat. “You’re absolutely insane! How could you think that diving down into the home of a Whispering Death, and then jumping off a cliff would work?”

“Uh, we-well, _technically-_ “Her glare silenced me.

“Thor... you’re so irresponsible, and you don’t think before you do those sort of things!” I opened my mouth again. “Up, up, up, up, up... I’m talking. You’re just absolutely wonderful at scaring me half to death! I swear, I’m not going to make it out of this year because of you two.” She took a deep breath and turned to face away from me, then as soon as she was composed, turned back. “But I’m always so unbelievably glad when you’re safe. And everything always works out.” She reached out and brushed my cheek. “I got lucky, ending up here, on Berk. You people are as caring as you are crazy, and you lot really do belong in a madhouse.” I laughed. “Just... maybe take some time to slow down and enjoy life?” 

Reign briefly reached out to peck my lips, and I smiled at her.

“How about a little flight around Berk, then, milady,” I climbed up onto Toothless and extended my hand out to her.

“So long as it’s leisurely. If I get thrown off by one of your crazy tricks again, I swear to Thor...” I laughed and helped her up, then we took off just as the moon was rising.

_When our past rears its ugly head, it usually doesn’t have six rows of razor-sharp teeth and a bad attitude. If it does, you’re gonna need a great friend who has your back. I will always have Toothless’ back, and he will always have mine._


	15. (Reign)

_Ever since I arrived on Berk, I've been trying to remember where I came from. But I never expected the answers would come to me on a day I wasn't supposed to be on Berk at all._

 _"_ How are we supposed to see up here?" Ruffnut whined.

"You're not. That's the whole point."

Today's training was all about trust between dragon and rider, but as usual, Ruff and Tuff weren't exactly getting that. We had taken them above the dense cloud cover that had settled over Berk in hopes that maybe Barf and Belch would be able to help guide the twins to where we had designated them to go.

"Oh. No, I still don't get it." Hiccup and I exchanged a glance.

"When you two can't see, you have to trust Barf and Belch to see for you. Like this." Hiccup patted Toothless on the head, and the two of them disappeared into the fog.

"Why does he always have to speak in riddles?"

"I say we trust us." I used Shriek to rest my elbows on as I buried my head in my hands.

"Yeah, I'm with you, sister."

"Barf, up!"

"Belch, down!" I looked up to see the twins and their Zippleback spiraled through the air, each head facing a different direction. They barreled through the sky, knocking into an unsuspecting Fishlegs and Meatlug and sending them all tumbling to the ground.

"Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me." Shriek and I dove down to where the three had fallen, finding them suspended by tree branches. 

"Belch, get me down!"

"Barf, go for help!" I looked up to the sky to see their Zippleback still fighting to pick a direction to fly in. 

Taking the opportunity, Fishlegs whistled toward his dragon. Meatlug looked down at where the noise had come from, then dove toward her rider to help him the twins up off the branch. 

"It worked! I can't believe it actually worked!" He could only celebrate for a second, however. The branch below Fishlegs suddenly snapped, and thinking fast, I jumped onto Shriek and dove beneath him to catch Fishlegs. We reunited with Hiccup as we got back above the cloud cover. 

"What was that hand thing you were doing?" I asked.

"If you must know, I have been crafting some rudimentary hand signals for Meatlug just in case we get separated, and they seem to have been well-received."

"Hmm... Hand signals. That's incredible, Fishlegs!"

"Yeah, I know!" I turned to Hiccup.

"We need to start working on those right away." A look crossed Hiccup's face, one that I couldn't quite understand, before nodding and leading everyone back to the academy for training.

"Shriek, knockout boom!" I stepped out of the way and flicked my arm down for her to fire out a tiny sonic boom. "Up!" I pointed my index finger up and she took off just above my head. "Higher!" She went up to the ceiling of the academy, and I was satisfied. "Okay, come down, girl."

Having finished with our part of training for the day, I made my way over to Hiccup and Toothless, who were finishing up their hand signals.

"Toothless, plasma blast!" Hiccup tossed a shield into the air, and Toothless obliterated it with a blast. "Good job, bud. Smile." I giggled as Toothless pulled back the corners of his lips, trying his best to smile.

"Not bad." Astrid glanced at us before quickly flickering her attention back to Stormfly. "Stormfly, spine shot!" Her Deadly Nadder whipped her tail out toward Astrid, shooting spines right up to her feet. "Well, it's better than last time." We all turned to look at Snotlout as he laughed. 

"Hookfang, annihilate!" Without waiting for his rider to get out of the way, Hookfang shot out a ball of fire.

"Bulls-eye!" 

"Meatlug, hug!" The Gronkle launched herself toward her owner and tackled him into the closest thing a dragon could offer for a hug.

"Hmm. That could actually be useful," Hiccup concluded. "Ruff, Tuff, your turn." Everyone looked at the twins, waiting for them to show off what they had come up with.

"Belch, come!"

"Barf, go!" The Zippleback stretched its heads in opposite directions, then hit their heads together, knocking it unconscious. "Barf, sky!"

"Belch, ground!" Each head tried to go in a separate direction, knocking them to the ground. "Ha ha! I win!"

"What do you think you're doing to my dragon?"

" _Your_ dragon? Puh-lease. You've been breathing in Barf's gas again."

"Yeah, so?" The twins were right up in each other's faces at this point, looking as though they were about to tear each other apart.

"Guys, guys!" Hiccup interjected. "Barf and Belch is one dragon. You have to use one signal at a time."

"Good idea. Barf, tackle Tuffnut!" Barf ended up obeying, knocking his head into Tuffnut to send him flying back. "Heh. How was that?"

"I don't think it's what Hiccup-"

"Belch, eat Ruffnut." Belch reached his head down and scooped up Ruff in his mouth, suspending her in the air. 

"Uh... ow?"

"Tuff, come on." Tuffnut rolled his eyes and scoffed at us.

"Whatever. Belch, drop Ruffnut." Ruff was gracefully set on the ground as she shuddered.

"I can't work like this."

"Ugh, it's completely unprofessional."

"I'm taking _my_ dragon, and going home."

"You touch that dragon, and I'll-"

"You'll what?" Tuffnut hesitated.

"I'll... I... I don't know. Don't rush me. Just..." He bounced his eyes from his sister to his dragon. "Uh... uh... I'll tell you tomorrow." They both rushed over to Barf and Belch and tried to pull his heads in separate directions.

"Guys, come on," Hiccup sighed. "Stop, please! Leave the dragon out of it. It's over."

"It's over."

"Yeah, it's so over, it's under." The pair stormed away from each other, leaving their dragon completely confused.

"What was that about?" I asked. The twins had never acted like that before.

"Eh, they'll be back." 

"You seem pretty confident about that." He shook his head.

"I have bigger things to worry about right now. Come on." We made our way back to his hut as Gobber was yanking a belt tight against Chief Stoick's gut. I looked around, both confused and a little disturbed. "Ah, the ceremonial belt. That time again?"

"What time?" I looked around, then thought of the time of year it was. "Is this that thing you guys always send me away for?"

"Yup. Tomorrow's the annual treaty signing with the Berserker tribe."

"They've gotta change that name. When your chief is Oswald the Agreeable, and you haven't been to war in fifty years."

"Please tell me he's not bringing that lunatic kid of his."

"Dagur? Oh, he'll be here." My head snapped up from my feet. Dagur? Why was there something so... familiar about that name? Maybe our family had a peace treaty with them as well?

"Great," Hiccup deadpanned. "And let me guess: I get to keep him from breaking things?"

"Actually, I have a more important job for you. You get to hide all the dragons."

"From Oswald the Agreeable? Why?"

"Hiccup, just because we've had peace for fifty years, doesn't mean they can't still go, well..."

"Berserk?"

"Exactly. The dragons could be seen as a sign of aggression. Better blissful than bloody, I always say."

"The last thing we want is another Berserker skirmish. They tend to play for keeps."

"Just hide the dragons, son." I sighed and sat down at the table, still mulling things over from my previous semi-epiphany.

"You okay, Reign?" I looked over at Chief Stoick, Gobber, and Hiccup, all looking at me as though I were suddenly growing another head.

"I, uh... I know that name," I muttered. "Dagur. I've definitely heard it somewhere before." The chief and Gobber exchanged a glance that didn't go unnoticed. "What?"

"Maybe you should stay here for the signing this time," Chief Stoick suggested. I shot up from the chair and stared at he pair of adults.

"You know something, don't you? You figured something out and now you won't tell me."

"Reign, please, just-"

"What is it?" I fought back a few childish tears. "What can't I know? Because if it has anything to do with Dagur, or Oswald, shouldn't I know before they come?" The chief and Gobber exchanged a glance, before Chief Stoick turned to his son.

"Hiccup, could you give us a minute?" He looked between the three of us before nodding and taking Toothless out the door. The chief crossed the room and pulled up a chair, sitting down across from me. "Reign, the reason we send you away at this time of year... is that we're worried, if the Berserkers find you here, they'll think we're harboring you."

"Harboring me? Why would they care?" Chief Stoick gestured to Gobber, and he rushed off to grab something. "What's going on?" Gobber came back and handed something shiny to the chief.

"This was on your belt when you were dropped on Berk." He placed the shimmering object in my hands, allowing me to look over it myself. It was a flat piece of silver with some sort of dragon I'd never seen before carved into it.

"What is this?" I asked, looking back up at the chief.

"It's the crest of the Berserker Tribe."

I sat there in a stunned silence for a few moments. If I had the crest of the Berserker tribe on me... and my mother had said I was the daughter of a chief...

"Is Oswald my father?" I asked, my hands starting to tremble. "Am I a Berserker?" They said nothing. At first, I was too stunned to speak, but after a minute, I burst into laughter.

"Reign?" Gobber asked cautiously. "Are, uh... are you okay?"

"I'm relieved!" I cried out. 

"What?" I managed to calm down my hysterics to explain.

"I always had this recurring nightmare that my brother... he killed my father. And I went for so long thinking it was a memory, but if you say that you meet with my father every year, then it was just a nightmare!" I shook my head and composed myself. "That's not important. What's important is that I want to meet him."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"If he's as kind as you say he is, then I'm sure he'll understand if I just explain."

A horn sounded outside the doors.

"They're here, chief."

"Then we're out of time." An armada of ships was making its way toward us, all with that same dragon painted on the sails.

"Hey, Dad?" I looked over to see Hiccup approaching us. "There's-"

"Not now, son. Oswald is here." We watched as the largest ship brushed against the wood of the docks and lowered their gangplank.

"Presenting the high chief of the Berkserker Tribe." My heart rate started to increase. This was it... the moment I was going to see my dad for the first time in years. "Cracker of skulls, slayer of beasts, the great, and fearsome-"

"Oswald the Agreeable?"

"Dagur the Deranged!" I looked from Chief Stoick to Gobber, panic on all our faces as the man stepped aside to reveal a young man with a menacing snarl staring down at us.

"Dagur?"

"Deranged?"

"Oh, no..." Hiccup quickly ducked as Dagur removed a small knife from his belt and chucked it in his direction. "Oh, perfect." I shrunk myself behind the two large men as he made his way down the gangplank.

"Dagur, where's your father?" Chief Stoick inquired.

"My father has been... retired. He lost his taste for blood. I, on the other hand, am starving."

"Great," I muttered. "I'm related to that." 

"What?" I turned to Hiccup and flashed a suspicious smile.

"Nothing."

"So, where are you hiding them, Stoick?"

"Hiding what, Dagur?"

"Do I look stupid to you?"

"Trick question," Gobber whispered. "Don't answer it."

"We both know what's going on here. I have it on excellent authority that you're amassing an army of dragons."

"Excellent authority? And who would that be?" The chief demanded. 

"Never mind. Just know that if I find it to be true, then my armada will attack with the force of fifty thousand brave Berserker soldiers."

"Stand down, Dagur. There won't be any need for the armada. Now, let's get to the treaty." I heard Hiccup dash off behind me, leaving me to stand on my own.

"Yes, let's. According to the treaty, my visit starts with a tour of Berk, the armory, the feast in the Great Hall, the killing arena- you _do_ still kill dragons here, hmm?"

"Your father never felt the tour necessary."

"As you can see, I'm not my father. Am I?" 

"Clearly," I grunted.

"Who said that?" My eyes went wide and I shot up straight.

"Uh..."

"It's fine, Chief Stoick." I slowly emerged from behind them and smiled.

"I-I'm Reign," I introduced. "I'll be taking Hiccup's place this year." Dagur looked over me with suspicious eyes, and for a moment, I was terrified he recognized me.

"Very well." He brushed past the three of us, starting his tour on his own. 

"Come on, go, go." I whispered, urging the three of us forward to get ahead of Dagur and his men as their feet touched the grassy land of Berk.

"And we're walking, walking... And here we have our food storage. It's where we... well..."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, let me guess," Dagur chimed in. "Store your food."

"No wonder they made him chief." The three of us followed him in and stood in the doorway as Dagur did a sweep of our inventory.

"Boring! I want to see the dragon-killing things," he demanded.

"Follow me," the chief grumbled.

"Are you sure about this, Chief Stoick?"

"What else can we do?" I shook my head and followed as the chief led Dagur to the armory. As soon as he unlocked the doors, Dagur's eyes lit up. "And here, we have Berk's armory." The Berserker chief snatched up a sword and started to swing it around wildly. 

"You want some of this, Gronkle?" I jumped out of the way as he swung the sword too close to my face. "How about you, Nadder? That's right, plead. Plead for your pathetic, dragon life." He chucked the sword at a shield hanging on the wall.

"He's really got a handle on that whole 'deranged' thing." Dagur picked up another sword and cackled as he swung it around. The look on Chief Stoick's face shifted, and he yanked the sword from the shield.

"I'm about to make him eat this sword." My eyes went wide and I extended my arms out.

"How about we see to signing that treaty now," I suggested.

"Sounds like my father," he grunted. "'Sign the treaty, Dagur.' 'Leave that chicken alone, Dagur.' 'Put down that axe, Dagur!'" I snapped my head up to look at Dagur. What... what did that mean...?

"Your father is a great man! And I'll not have you disrespect him!" Chief Stoick spat.

"My father _was_ a coward. I intend to return the Berserkers to their former glory. Something he was... incapable of doing."

"Zippleback," Chief Stoick suddenly gasped.

"I knew it! Where is it? Ooh, let me kill it, let me kill it."

"He's joking, Dagur," Gobber awkwardly chuckled as he shut the doors. "That Stoick, always the prankster. Tell me, Dagur. What are some of your deranged plans for the Berserker tribe?"

"Let's start with what you did to you father," I cut in.

"Reign..."

"No, no, I want to know. Between 'put down that axe,' and 'was,' you're sounding awfully suspicious, Dagur."

"That's for me to know, girl."

"I'd prefer you used my name, Dagur."

"Let's move on to that feast then, you two." Gobber pushed Dagur and I apart and guided us out of the armory.

"Nice weapons, very clean. No blood stains, pity. Ah, Hiccup, there you are." I peered around the side of Dagur to see Hiccup looking down with his eyes closed and arms in the air.

"Dagur!" he yelled, over-enthusiastically. "I-I was just thinking about you. Hey, remember that time we went swimming, and you tried to drown me."

"Hiccup, what are you _doing?"_ I asked, crossing around to put his arms down.

"Ho ho ho ho ho ho he he he he ha," Dagur chuckled, for far too long. "Oh, the laughs we had. Bored again!" He shoved Hiccup out of the way, suddenly stopping in his tracks. "Just a moment. Something... is going on here."

"I can explain..."

"Where is it?"

"Look, it's just one drag-" My eyes went wide. Was there a dragon here?"

"Your leg." Hiccup looked up above us cautiously. "Never mind, I heard all about it."

"You heard all about what?"

"You, the Red Death. Defeated it all on your own."

"I'm sorry, what? Is _that_ what people are saying?"

"What? Me? Look at me. How is that even possible?"

"Right? That's what I thought, too. But then, I heard about the trained dragons, and it got me, well, kind of tingly."

" _Trained_ dragons? I do- I don't even- how would you train a dragon?"

"I don't know." Dagur got threateningly close to Hiccup's face. "How would you?" There was an awkward silence.

"All right, then. Who's hungry?" Chief Stoick started to lead Dagur toward the Great Hall.

"I-It's this way, Dagur." All of us started to make our way toward the Great Hall, when a roar stopped everyone in their tracks. Slowly, we all turned to look at Hiccup, whose eyes flashed with panic before he started making growling noises and holding his stomach.

"Oh, boy, am I hungry."

"I said this way, Dagur." Once the boy was out of earshot, Chief Stoick turned to his son. "Get that dragon out of here."

He rushed off before I could say anything, and I followed everyone else into the Great Hall, where the meal was ready. I took a seat between Dagur and Gobber, hoping to just get through the rest of this day without a casualty. Once everyone was seated, Hiccup snuck in and took his seat beside his father, who leaned over to whisper something before we started eating.

"A toast, to death in battle." Dagur stood and raised his cup, and while everyone else did the same, Chief Stoick changed the toast.

"To Oswald."

"Fine, whatever. To Oswald," Dagur mocked, "to Oswald, to Oswald. Bladady, bladady, blah! Ugh!" Everyone looked around uncomfortably as he stabbed the food in front of him.

But that was nothing compared to what happened next.

"So, Stoick... do you care to explain what my sister is doing on your island?" 

Everything went silent as utensils clattered and drinks were spat in shock as eyes shifted to the only girl in the room: me. I awkwardly looked down at the food in front of me before standing and looking at him.

"How'd you know?" I asked, meeting the eyes that were the same as mine.

"Did you think I didn't remember your name? I couldn't possibly forget the name of my own sister. Besides, we look too similar to deny it. I just never thought you'd end up in a place like this."

"Dagur, before you say anything... I didn't know until just before you came. I couldn't remember anything about home, and-" I could see Dagur getting angrier with every word I said.

"Well, on _that_ cheery note, shall we sign the treaty and send you on your way?" That seemed to distract Dagur.

"Great idea! Let's sign that treaty. Bring us the dragon's blood!"

"Uh, did you say dragon's blood?" Chief Stoick laughed awkwardly. 

"Don't be ridiculous, Dagur. Your father and I haven't signed the treaty in dragon's blood for years."

"Why would that be a problem, Stoick? Unless, of course, you don't kill dragons anymore."

"We still kill dragons."

"The problem is, we've killed so many, there's not a dragon within two hundred miles from here-" The doors of the Great Hall suddenly burst open, and Barf and Belch growled at the people in front of them.

"Except that one," I sighed. The dragon quickly turned around and rushed outside again. 

"The Zippleback! It's a sign! A head for each chief!" Dagur cackled wildly. "It's gonna be amazing!" He hopped up on a chair and held his knife above his head. "Tonight, we hunt a dragon!" I snatched the knife out of the air as it was chucked in Hiccup's direction.

"Yeah! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!" the other Berserkers chanted.

"You need to find that Zippleback before he does," I hissed.

"You're not going to help me?"

"I have to stay here and stall them." He nodded and dashed after the Zippleback.

"Well, Dagur, if you're going to hunt down that Zippleback, you should at least have the proper weapons, right?"

"Reign, what...?"

"Trust me, Chief," I whispered. 

"That's where you're wrong, sister. We already have plenty enough weapons. We just need ropes." He looked down at my belt to see the rope I carried around. "Like that."

"Hey, that's mine." He snatched it from me.

"What's yours is mine. That's how family works." I huffed as Dagur gathered his troops.

"Of all the brothers in the world, why'd I have to get that one." 

"Berserkers, let's find that Zippleback!" The rushed out of the Great Hall and straight into the woods. 

"Dagur, wait!" 

Unfortunately, we didn't have to go far to find Barf and Belch. They were clearly disoriented without Ruff and Tuff, and they couldn't navigate through the woods on their own. I ran to the dragon's side as two Berserkers tied his heads down. In a moment of pure, blind instinct, I removed my sword from my side and blocked Dagur from bringing his own down.

"How... dare... you?"

"How dare _you_?" I stepped aside to let Chief Stoick make whatever point he was going to try to make. "We're supposed to slay this dragon together, and that we'll do- in the arena, where dragon killing is done." Dagur put his sword away.

"To the arena!" As the Berserkers hauled off Barf and Belch, I caught the eyes of my friends hiding out in the woods. An immense amount of guilt washed over me as I met the disappointed glances of Ruffnut and Tuffnut, but all I could do at the moment was mouth the word 'sorry' and run off after the others. Once the Zippleback was secured in the arena and Dagur declared he was ready, Gobber pulled out the treaty to begin the process. 

Of course, I was going to try my best to make sure it wasn't finished.

"According to the treaty, the killing of the dragon must be-" Dagur shoved the treaty down.

"Bored! I want the head on the right." I could barely watch as Barf and Belch struggled to get free from the ropes. I had run out of time with no ideas except to start a fight with Dagur, and he was much bigger and stronger than me, so it certainly wasn't a fight I'd come out of unscathed, or possibly with my life.

"I'm putting a stop to this," Chief Stoick declared. "If it means war, it means war."

"Chief Stoick-" He marched toward Dagur and pulled out his sword. Horror flooded through me as I realized what he was about to do. Just as the chief was about to bring the sword down on Dagur, a voice cut through everything.

"Help!" We all turned to see Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs sprinting haphazardly into the arena. "Dragon attack!"

"The dragons are attacking!" We looked up to see Hookfang crawling down through the ceiling of the arena and firing at the Berserker soldiers. Briefly, I looked over and caught Astrid's eye, who winked at me.

_Those sly friends of mine..._

"What is going on?" Gobber asked, completely and utterly confused.

"Gobber, dragon attack." I emphasized my words to try and get him to understand what was happening. Thankfully, he raised his eyebrows in recognition.

"Oh! Dragon attack! Everyone out of here!" Stromfly and Meatlug came in through the entrance, and while the Nadder shot out spines from her tail, the Gronkle jumped forward into a 'hug.' "We must protect our honored guest." Gobber tried to usher Dagur out of the arena, but he pushed him away.

"Run if you want. But Dagur the Deranged will not retreat!" Without anyone noticing, I cut the ropes restraining Barf and Belch, allowing Ruff and Tuff to give them the signals to spark. I jumped out of the way just in time, and Dagur was thrown against the wall by the explosion. Stormfly then threw her tail against Dagur to send him to the ground. However, as the Zippleback was retreating, Dagur managed to get up and throw a spear in its direction. 

Thankfully, at the last second, a black blur shot out and grabbed it between its teeth, staring down Dagur. He backed up in shock, staring at Toothless in complete and utter awe.

"A Night Fury! They _do_ exist!" Toothless growled and took his battle stance, when Hiccup jumped between them with a shield on one arm and a knife in the other.

"Back, you... fiend, you," he ordered. "You'll not harm my friend, Dagur." I stifled a laugh as Hiccup shot his arm back and hit Dagur with the shield. Making use of the momentary stun, Hiccup gestured for Toothless to do a plasma blast, then shoved Dagur out of the way just as it was about to hit them. The Berserkers, including Dagur, were running to get out at this point.

"Please, Dagur, save yourself!" I called. Toothless jumped on Hiccup and started play-fighting him, while I pretended to yank on his tail to get him off.

"You owe it to your people!" With a final blast from Hookfang, Dagur called the retreat.

"Berserkers, to the boats!"

"What about the treaty?"

"Consider it signed!" As soon as they were gone, the dragons backed off.

"Well done, Hiccup," his dad complimented. "I doubt we'll be seeing much more of Dagur the Deranged."

"Let's hope not," I grumbled, making my way over to help Hiccup up.

"But he's your brother." I shook my head.

"Only by blood."

_I'd spent so long thinking that once I found my family, I'd get to go home with them. Granted, that was before I got to know the people here on Berk. And sure, they're pretty crazy here, but I'll take crazy over berserk any day of the week._


	16. (Hiccup)

_The life of a Viking can be difficult, harsh, and stormy. Nobody could make it through alone, and eventually, you're going to have to rely on someone. Unfortunately, we don't always get to pick that someone._

"This is so lame," Snotlout groaned, breaking the focused silence of the formation we had been flying in. "Why are we even out here?" I rolled my eyes as we flew through the grey clouds, indicative of rain. 

"Because, this is our first dragon search-and-rescue mission," I retorted, trying to get him to settle down.

"I see a lot of searching, but not much rescuing. Do you even know where we are?" That question stung my pride a little bit.

"My dad said the fishing boat was last seen heading South," I informed him as Reign pulled up beside me. Snotlout made a face like he had been defeated, but quickly wiped it off to throw another insult.

"You don't know what you're talking about. There's nothing down there! I say we go North."

"And if Hiccup said to go North...?" Reign asked him, trying to call Snolout out for what he was doing. He paused for a moment to try and come up with a response that wouldn't contradict himself. 

"Are you trying to mess with my mind? Because nothing gets in here! _Nothing!_ "

"That explains a lot of things..." Reign muttered beside me before focusing back on the job at hand. "What does our map say, Fishlegs?" We turned to look back at the boy as he pulled out the piece of paper. After a few seconds of attempting to read it, the map flew back against his face.

"It's kind of tough to read from this angle."

"You know what, Hiccup? I'm done listening to you! I said North, and North is where I'm going." He yanked on Hookfang's horns to get him to turn around, but the Nightmare remained sturdy in our formation. "Hey! You work for me!" After another yank, Hookfang harshly shot up and turned around.

"Are we just going to let him go?"

"Works for me," Tuffnut scoffed.

I _was_ just going to let him go, fly off North and let him make his way back to Berk when he was unsuccessful. That was, until Reign cleared her throat and shot me a glare that said 'you need to go after him.' That look was one of the few things I couldn't say no to, and I ended up shaking my head.

"Ugh," I groaned. "I'm going, I'm going." I pointed to her. "Lead the others back, we'll get him. Come on, bud." I gently pat Toothless' neck, causing him to turn upward and start us in the opposite direction. Who knows how much time this would set us back, or even if we'd be able to find the fishing boat at this point, but I knew Reign would chew me out if I didn't go back for Snotlout.

The wind was going against our favor, pushing Toothless slightly back with every centimeter we flew. The clouds in the sky were darkening even more as the water below us churned uneasily. Toothless and I finally caught up with Snotlout, but my heart started to pound harder at the sight of a large cyclone right in front of him.

"Wow. Look at the size of that waterspout..." The winds picked up to a dangerous speed, threatening to throw the two of us from our dragons. "That waterspout is way too dangerous!" I called to the rider in front of me.

"That's why I'm flying around it!" he shouted back at me. "Duh!" I shook my head as Snotlout maneuvered his Monstrous Nightmare around the spout.

"You're coming too close!" I warned. "Look out!" A strong stream of wind suddenly got under Hookfang's wings and swept him through the current and closer into the center of the waterspout. If I didn't do something now, he wouldn't make it out of there. 

I turned Toothless around and flew against the jet stream, trying my best to get as close as possible to him, but just as I was in range, the wind threw Hookfang back and over my head. Snotlout, however, remained in the strong winds, being tossed about.

"Help me! Help me, Hiccup!" Right in front of my eyes, Snotlout was sucked into the center of the waterspout.

"We're coming!" Without thinking, I pushed Toothless into the center in pursuit of Snotlout. I managed to get close enough to catch him in Toothless' claws. "Toothless, get us out of here!"

But the winds were too strong, and Toothless' artificial tail fin was ripped right from its skeleton, disabling us from flying.

"Oh, no. Snotlout, hang on!" Unable to control where we were going, the three of us were tossed from the control of the waterspout, and down onto an island full of dead trees. I managed to steer him onto land, but as soon as we made impact, everything went black.

"Toothless! Where are you?"

I had woken up on the ground to find my dragon gone, and Snotlout nowhere in sight. We were stuck on an island we didn't know, somewhere we didn't know, with no way of getting home at the moment.

"Snotlout?" From the distance, I heard a low, familiar growling, and quickly turned on my heel to run toward it. Thankfully, Toothless was lying among a clearing of trees. "Toothless! Are you okay?" I rushed to his side and picked his head up. "Come on, talk to me, bud." Slowly, his green eyes opened, looking bleary and confused, and he gently licked my face to show he was okay. "Oh, thank Thor. That wasn't our best landing, was it?" My eyes moved down to his tail to see that it was completely bent out of shape. "Great. Your tail is gone, and the connecting rod is a mess. What are we supposed to do now?"

"You could start by getting me out of this stupid tree!" I looked up to see Snotlout dangling from a branch, high above our heads. Toothless fired a plasma blast to knock him down, and as soon as he hit the ground, I made my way over to him.

"Well, that looked like it hurt." Mouth hanging open, Snotlout barely shook his head. "You sure? Can you talk?"

"Go... suck... rocks..." I backed up toward Toothless.

"Hey, he's back! Lucky us," I deadpanned as Snotlout stood up. "Where's Hookfang?" He looked around and started to call for his dragon.

"Hookfang? Hookfang! Where are you? Hookfang, you get over here right now!"

_That's how you treat your dragon with respect..._

"Hookfang! Hooky?" He stood over a cliff and looked down at more grey rocks. "Fangster?" There was no roar, no fire, nothing.

"I don't think he's here, Snotlout," I cut in regretfully.

"Obviously. Big headed dragon..."

"Don't worry, we'll find him. Now all we have to do is figure out how to get out of here."

"How? Toothless lost his tail fin, Hookfang isn't here, and we have no idea where we are!" I sighed and shook my head.

"Yup, he's back, alright."

Lightning and thunder threatened to bring a storm to us as Snotlout rifled through my bag for something to eat as I attempted to fasten a makeshift tail fin onto Toothless. As soon as it was lined up, I reached down for the connecting rod I had started to form.

"This could be tougher..." I tried to bend it against one of the rocks, but all that happened was the rod snapped back and painfully struck me in there eye. "Ah!"

"There's nothing to eat in here, Hiccup!" Snotlout whined. "What kind of search-and-rescue mission is this?"

"Well, instead of complaining, why don't you try and help me?"

"I _am_ trying to help you," he declared as he swung around a piece of bread. "I'm trying to teach you about survival. You don't leave home without proper supplies, and at the top of that list is food!"

"Food? Like the food in your hand?" I sighed.

"You mean this day-old biscuit?" I could feel my anger starting to build. "It's even got a spot of mold right-" I snatched the bread from his hands. "Hey!"

"We have bigger problems than a biscuit!" To deal with it, Toothless lunged forward and snatched the bread from my hands, swallowing it down without a second thought.

"He ate my biscuit! What kind of dragon takes a man's biscuit?" I rolled my eyes and made my way back to the rod. "You know, his bad manners are a reflection on you and Reign." I tried to pull it out from the rocks it was wedged between, but it wouldn't budge. "Gimme that," Snotlout demanded. "You're doing it all wrong. You need to put some muscle in it." He yanked the rod out and held it in front of me. "Oops, I forgot. You can't." He started to bend the rod in the direction of the curve.

"No, no, be careful with that or it might-" The rod snapped in half in his hands.

"You wanted two of them, right?" he asked stupidly.

"Nope. That was our only hope of getting home."

"It's not my fault your dragon has half a tail. Just get another rod!" I balled up my fists and turned around to face him.

"Don't you understand? We have no idea where we are!" 

Suddenly, Toothless started growling at the rocks not far from us. For a split second, I was confused, until I heard a faint chorus of voices getting closer to where Snotlout and I were. I started to panic as they got closer. I thought we were the only ones here, and we had no idea whether these people were hostile or not.

"Shh..." We watched as the people passed by through a break in the rocks, then I gestured for Snotlout to follow Toothless and I as we crept closer to where we thought they were going.

"What do you see?" Snotlout hissed.

"Would you be quiet?" I peered through an opening in the rocks I was pressed up against. "For all we know, we could be on a hostile island."

"Don't be such a baby," he scoffed. "How hostile can it be?"

My heart stopped in my chest as one of the people passed by us. His voice, from a distance, had sounded vaguely familiar, not to mention the uniform I had seen before, but now seeing him, it was affirming my worst nightmare.

"Is _that_ hostile enough for you?" We jumped out of the way as one of the Outcasts peered through the hole we had been using to spy on them.

"Nothing there." He wandered away to rejoin his fellow Outcasts.

"I know where we are now..."

"Come on, this way!" Savage ordered the soldiers.

" _That_ was Savage. We're on Outcast Island..." I turned around to face Snotlout and Toothless. "We have to find a way out of here, now." 

If we were on Outcast Island, then they had some semblance of a village somewhere, and that hopefully meant they had a blacksmith with a smithy. If we could get there and use it without any of the Outcasts noticing us, we could get out of here without any trouble. But we had to get a move on before Savage and his group of Outcasts returned. I turned on my heel and started to head toward where I knew there settlement was. Lightning flashed above our heads, the storm getting closer.

"Outcast Island? I can't believe this," I sighed. "We've really got to fix this connecting rod and get out of here, otherwise, we are dead men." I turned around to see Snotlout grinning as he picked up something in his other hand and put it in his mouth. "Snotlout, I'm not sure you should be eating those berries."

"Well, I'm not sure you should be telling me what to eat," he snapped back. "Especially after you took my biscuit." Toothless sniffed the berries with great interest, causing Snotlout to shove him away. "Hey, back off! These are mine!"

"Those berries could be poisonous."

"Hey, we're on Outcast Island. We're going into battle, we need our strength: a concept you know nothing about." I turned around and continued my walk toward civilization.

"Battle the Outcasts? Really? The two of us?"

"Abtholutely," he slurred.

_Wait... slurred?_

I turned around to look at Snotlout in confusion.

"What did you just say?" I looked at him to see his tongue hanging out of his mouth, limp and useless.

"I thaid 'abtholutely,' ath in 'of courth.'" I groaned and shook my head, starting to reach my limit.

"Oh, for the love of- I told you not to eat those berries!"

"Why? What'th wrong?" Clearly, his tongue had gone numb, so he couldn't feel that it was hanging out of his mouth. I pointed to a puddle on the ground so he would look in it and see what was going on. As soon as he did, his hands flew to his face. "Oh, no. I'm hideouth."

"Ugh. Give me my satchel. I may have something that can help with your tongue."

"Thatchel?" I started to panic a little bit.

"No, no, no, no... Do _not_ tell me you just left it there. If someone finds that 'thatchel,'" I mocked, "we're done. It's got the Berk crest on it."

"Relax, we're thafe. Trutht me. No one's gonna find it." 

"I hope you're right," I fumed.

I focused on the arena they had with my spyglass, trying to find the smithy. Snotlout and I were finally close to the village, and now all I had to do was find the smithy. I moved the glass from the arena down to the land below it to see a small hut, aglow with a forge fire.

"Wait, wait... there it is! Just need to wait until the blacksmith leaves, then I can sneak in there and make a new rod." I put the spyglass down as Snotlout stood over me.

"How long do I have to leave my tongue in here?" he slurred as he held his tongue in the curative mixture. "It's disguthting. I thaw Toothless thit in it." Toothless cocked his head with curiosity.

"He did, indeed." I tried to hide my laughter. "But, uh- but Nightfury saliva has _incredible_ healing properties," I lied.

"Ugh, it tathes like yak pieth."

"That's just how this is supposed to taste. Keep your tongue in there for a few more minutes."

I sighed and took a seat against a rock, More than anything else, I was concerned about how worried Reign must be. We had been gone for a couple of days, easily, and we were supposed to be back a few hours after they went home. Instead, she had no idea where we were, and no word since I'd turned around to get Snotlout. And, of course, the other thing was that she was the one who had told me to go back and get Snotlout. Even though none of this was her fault, she was probably blaming herself. I just wanted to be back with her, and the others, again.

Clouds were covering the light that would have been coming down, instead replaced my momentary flashes of lightning. I had seen the blacksmith leave his work space, so we had to move now in order for me to be able to make a new connecting rod.

"Hurry," I urged Snotlout. "We don't know how long the blacksmith is going to be gone."

"Betty Boda bought a bit of bitter butter. 'And,' said she, 'this butter's bitter.' If I bought a bit of bitter butter-"

"What... are... you... doing?" I asked, trying my best to control my temper.

"Enjoying my tongue again."

"Well, I'm glad someone is." I shook my head and turned around. Suddenly, a Monstrous Nightmare stepped in front of me, blocking our path.

"Hookfang!" The dragon turned to reveal that in the light, it was different colors from Hookfang. It shot out a blast at Snotlout, knocking him on his back. "Not Hookfang!"

"It's a Monstrous Nightmare!" Toothless jumped in front of the dragon and roared at it, trying to tell the creature to stand down. They circled each other a couple of times, looking ready to pounce, but I couldn't let that happen and risk either dragon getting hurt. "Toothless, stop!" I stepped between the two dragons to calm them down, then glanced at the Nightmare for a moment before closing my eyes and extending my hand out. The Nightmare nuzzled its nose into my palm, and for a second, I thought we were finally in the clear. 

That was, until arrows started flying at us, and I looked down the hill to see Outcasts coming in our direction.

"There they are, the Berk intruders!" 

"Run!" I turned on my heels and started to run away, as the Monstrous Nightmare fired blasts in their direction to slow the soldiers down. "Circle back around, bud," I ordered Toothless before Snotlout and I broke off, hoping my dragon would be enough of a distraction for them. Sure enough, they thought that Snotlout and I were with Toothless, and they ran off to follow him. We peered over the ledge to watch them run away. "Good, they're gone. Alright, we'll just wait here until Toothless comes back, then head to the blacksmith shop."

"No way!" Snotlout protested. "I'm not going anywhere near that place. You almost got us caught." He turned around to head down the side of the cliff we had climbed up.

" _I_ almost got- the only reason the Outcasts know we're here is because _you_ lost the satchel with the Berk crest on it," I accused.

"Well, who brought the satchel with the Berk crest on it to Outcast Island?"

"Well, I had no idea we were going to Outcast Island!"

"So _you're_ not prepared, and _I_ get blamed?" He huffed. "Hmm." I had finally had enough of Snotlout.

"Fine. If you don't like my ideas, please, please, let me hear one of yours." He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but nothing came out of his mouth. "Precisely as I suspected." I turned around and smiled at Toothless. "There you go. Good job, bud. At least someone's pulling their weight around here."

"Oh! You are so smug!"

"Me?"

"'Hiccup's so smart, Hiccup's so brave. He killed the Red Death. He trained the dragons. He's got the metal leg.'"

"Metal leg? That's what's bothering- that's where you're going? Metal leg?" I stuttered angrily.

"No! It's everything the leg is attached to!"

"Well, deal with it Snotlout, because as of now, I am literally all you've got!"

"Oh! You think I _need_ you? I don't need you!" With a wild gesture, he turned around and started to storm away.

"Well, I don't need you! Go!" I turned back to Toothless. "It's him, right?" He lowered his lids, like he did when he knew that something wasn't right, and for a second I was reminded of Reign. "Come on, let's just get going. I think we're running out of time."

I followed Toothless down the cliff and back toward the smithy, keeping a close eye out for any Outcasts that were lingering. It was most likely that they were trying to bring me to Alvin, but if that happened, I was done for. I looked left and right before ducking between the bars in the doorway to get inside. Toothless was, unfortunately, trapped on the outside.

"Back there, bud. Stay hidden." While Toothless kept watch, I started to dig through weapons and other metal objects to try and find something I could use to make another connecting rod. Thankfully, there was a spare rod of metal sitting at the bottom of a barrel. In a hurry, I grabbed pliers and a hammer and started to pound on it as quickly as possible. It was almost starting to take shape, when the hammer was suddenly ripped from my hands. I quickly snapped my head up to stare into Savage's terrifying eyes.

"And what are we making, Hiccup?" he asked teasingly. I had to think quickly.

"Uh... a gift for... Alvin... to thank him for his hospitality!" I groaned and shook my head. That was a lousy excuse.

"Well, you can thank him in person. Grab him!" The connecting rod flew from my hands as the two soldiers grabbed onto me and dragged me behind Savage. I kicked and protested, trying my best to break free, but they were far stronger than I was, so I didn't stand a chance. I looked back to try and find Toothless, as a last-ditch effort, but all I saw were patches of Gronkle lava.

I was completely out of options.

So there I was, getting dragged along by the Outcasts and Savage up toward where Alvin spent all of his time. We were getting disturbingly close, to the point where I was getting desperate for something to come along that would help get me out of here, but hope was dwindling fast. We were approaching the bridge that led to Alvin, when Savage stopped in his tracks.

"Stoick wouldn't have sent you here alone. Where's the rest of your party?" Despite how angry I was at Snotlout, I wasn't about to give him up.

"Oh, no, no, no. Just me, it's just me. Taking a little vacation, you know? I've heard Outcast Island is beautiful this time of year."

"Alvin will get it out of you. In fact, he'll enjoy it. But trust me, you won't." He turned back around. "Move!" 

We were almost there, when an avalanche of rocks suddenly barreled down in front of us, blocking us from getting to Alvin. The Outcasts guarding me tried to run away, but more rocks fell down to trap us in. That time, I had seen the blast that knocked them down, and when I looked up at where it had come from to see my Night Fury dashing along the cliff.

"Toothless!" He fired repeated blasts at the Outcasts to scare them off, then Snotlout slid down the cliff and started hitting the Outcasts with the connecting rod I had been forced to leave behind, knocking all to the ground but the one holding me.

"Hiccup!" He chucked the connecting rod in my direction, hitting the Outcast behind me and allowing me to catch it and knock him out. As soon as we were in the clear, Toothless bounded over to me and started licking my face.

"Ah, good to see you, too. Thank you, bud!" A yell turned my attention away from Toothless, and I looked up just in time to see Savage running at Snotlout. "Snotlout!" Toothless shot a blast at the final Outcast in our way, knocking him back enough to allow us to take a defensive stance. Savage stood up with determination, but as soon as he took one look at us, his expression dropped, and Snotlout sprinted at him, yelling wildly to scare him off.

"You better run!" With Savage out of the way, I crouched down and connected the rod to his new tail fin.

We were finally ready to get out of here.

I mounted Toothless and shifted my foot to open the fin. We shot up into the air and grabbed Snotlout as he started to fall, and took off. Of course, the Outcasts weren't going to let us go without giving it all they had, so they started firing shots at us in hopes of knocking the three of us down, but more boulders fell to scare them off, and we headed back towards home.

"Woo-hoo! Do you realize what we just did?"

"We totally kicked butt, duh!"

"Yeah." At least he'd gotten half of it. "And we kicked butt together! Look, Snotlout, I'm-"

"-hungry, right?" I chuckled and shook my head.

"Yeah, exactly."

"Me, too." 

The sun was just starting to rise, when six other figures broke through the clouds in front of us.

_The others!_

Quickly, I steered Toothless to catch up with them.

"Hiccup!" Reign cried, a note of relief at the end of her words. 

"Snotlout!"

"Son, you're safe!"

"We never had a doubt."

"Hello? Other half of the team?" Snotlout was nudged from behind, and turned around to see his dragon waiting there for him. "Hookfang!" He snatched Snotlout up and threw him onto his back. "I'm still mad at you." 

I looked over at Reign as she flew Shriek closer to me.

"I'm sorry I made you get stuck with Snotlout," she sighed, shaking her head. "I was so worried about you."

"I figured you would be." She scoffed and shook her head, and I thought she was going to steer Shriek away. Instead, she reached over and quickly pecked my cheek, then focused back on flying home to Berk.

_Sometimes the last person you want to rely on is the one you end up being stuck with. Now, being stuck with Snotlout was_ no _picnic. But, who knew how much I could rely on him?_


	17. (Reign)

_Everyone has lost something they thought they couldn't live without. Sometimes, to find it again, you have to be willing to do anything, even look fear right in the eye. Just make sure you don't blink._

I stretched my arms above my head before reaching down to pat my Thunderdrum on the head.

"You ready for some training, girl?" She roared happily and I smiled. I was so happy to have a dragon again, but being a Thunderdrum, she had just about as much of a temper as I did, and that required extra training. "Come on. Maybe we can get there before Hiccup and work on some more hand gestures." 

We hovered above the ground to get to the Dragon Academy, finding Hiccup already there. At first, I thought he was getting ready for training, until I noticed him loading fish into his satchel.

"Okie dokie. We'll start in the West islands, and work our way back." He seemed to sense my presence and whipped around with wide eyes.

"Back from where?" I asked curiously, hopping off of Shriek and getting closer to him.

"Uh... uh- just a quick spin around the island," he lied, stuttering. I opened up Hiccup's satchel and pulled out a large fish.

"Uh-huh. Quick spin, huh? With enough food to feed Snotlout's whole family?"

"Do I hear my name?" We both turned to see Snotlout land Hookfang and take the fish from my hands. "Ooh, do I see a salmon?" He took a large bite out of the fish and downed some of Hiccup's water.

"Alright, look, if you must know-"

"And we must," I interjected.

"-I'm going to do something for my father." My face softened as I started to feel sympathy. There was something else behind this, clearly something important. And now instead of just wanting to know, I wanted to help. "Okay, Trader Johann is bringing something for him. Something important, and he should have been here by now." My expression shifted again to one of slight discomfort. I still didn't trust Trader Johann, after all this time.

"You're not trading this fish, are you?" Snotlout took another bite out of it. "Because it's delicious." Hookfang snatched it from Snotlout's hands and swallowed it down without a second thought. "Hey!" He snapped his fingers twice, and Hookfang threw it back up into Snotlout's hands. The Viking shook it off a couple of times, then bit off the meat on the head.

"When do we leave?" I asked. As much as Trader Johann gave me the creeps, this was really important to Hiccup, and I wanted to help him in any way that I could.

"I need to go alone. If we all disappear, my dad will get suspicious."

"Go alone? You without us?" Snotlout mocked. "Like you could handle anything if we weren't there to bail you-" Right as I glared at him, Snotlout started to choke on the fish he had swallowed down earlier. "Help..." I reached over and socked him in the stomach, dislodging the fish and sending it flying across the academy.

"Alright, fine, you two can come," Hiccup caved. "But that's it! Don't even tell the others. Heed my warning, I am serious." I tried to keep a straight face, but after a few seconds, I burst into laughter. "What? What's so funny, Reign?"

"Please don't try and be authoritative," I gasped out before stepping forward and placing a hand on his arm. "It just doesn't suit you."

"Wha-hey!" I could practically hear him shaking his head at me as I got onto Shriek to gather supplies.

"Hey, Hiccup." He glared up at Tuffnut on his dragon. "Snotlout told us there would be salmon, and I love locks."

"I'm pretty sure I said 'don't tell the others.'" he snapped at Snotlout.

"And I'm pretty sure I didn't listen to you."

"Hiccup, aren't you always saying it's better when we work as a team," Fishlegs tried to reason.

"Yeah, next time I say that, just slap me in the face."

"I'll do it right now," Ruffnut volunteered eagerly.

"She will. _And_ she slaps like a guy. It's awesome, watch." She slapped her brother, hard, and I rolled my eyes before flying closer to Hiccup.

"Thanks for actually coming, Reign. I know you don't exactly have a high opinion of Johann." I smiled and reached over to pat his hand.

"I'd rather deal with him than leave you behind when it's something this important."

"Hey, look!" Astrid drew out attentions away from each other, and redirected them to where she was pointing. There was a plank of wood floating in the middle of the ocean, with something- or rather, someone- on it.

"I can't see anything through the tears."

"Thanks for the info, Tuff," I huffed.

"Is that... Johann?"

"I thought he had a bigger boat than that."

"Come on, gang. Let's check it out." Hiccup led all of us diving down toward the wood in the middle of the ocean to pick up an unconscious Johann and land on a rock formation nearby us. "Johann? Johann, get up!" The trader snapped his eyes open and looked around at all of us, trying to figure out what was going on.

"The fog. The fog." He seemed to have gone into a shocked state.

"Johann, where's your ship?"

"No idea. All I know is one minute I was sailing in a perfectly calm sea, the wind at my back, and the next thing I know, my entire ship is pulled out from under me, and I'm shark bait!" Hiccup and I glanced at each other before he handed Johann a salmon.

"I don't understand."

"I do. I was three days late and trying to make up time, and I got too close."

"Too close to what?" Fishlegs asked, his voice quivering.

"Too close too... Breakneck Bog."

"Breakneck Bog!" I looked around at everyone, confused.

"What's Breakneck Bog?" Fishlegs turned to address me.

"Many a ship has sailed into its waters, few have returned."

"My grandfather told me it's pirates."

"That's ridiculous! Everyone knows it's haunted by a Fog Monster." I rested a hand on my hip and raised an eyebrow. I wasn't believing _any_ of this.

"A Fog Monster?"

"Legend says the Fog Monster makes this really creepy moan." Tuffnut made a ghostly noise. "Then, he surrounds you, and scrapes the skin off your bones!" Fishlegs screamed as Tuff lunged at him to scare him. "And then he scrapes the bones off of... whatever's under those."

"That would be bone marrow," I sighed.

"And then, it drops the bones from the sky," Ruff finished.

"Yes, yes it's true!" Trader Johann chimed in. "What he says. It... surrounded me."

"See?" I was still skeptical. "Fog Monster. Pirates," Snotlout scoffed. "Ha, ha. Stupid grandfather." Astrid shot him a glare.

"Johann, we _have_ to find your ship." Hiccup marched forward with determination and gripped the trader's shoulders. "There's something on it from my father."

"Yes, yes, yes, there was! But, it wasn't for your father, it was for you." I uncrossed my arms and looked right at Hiccup. What could have been there for him?

"For me? From who?"

"He didn't tell you?" Hiccup shook his head. "It was from your mother." My eyes went wide.

_His mother? But... that shouldn't be possible. His mother's been dead since he was a baby._

"My... mother..."

"That's impossible," I chimed in. All of this was starting to make me even more suspicious of Johann. As an extra precaution, I stepped forward and placed a hand on Hiccup's arm.

"What is it?"

"I have no idea, lad. I just know it's in a chest with a Berk crest on it."

"I-I have to find it." He crouched down to meet eyes with Johann. "Take us back there. You- you show us where you were when you lost your ship."

"No! No, I won't! You can't make me!" Johann stood up with a flash of anger in his eyes, and my hand flew to my sword as I extended the other arm out in front of Hiccup. "I have a knife in my boot!" We stared each other straight in the eyes, until Trader Johann finally broke and looked away from me. "I don't have a knife in my boot," he admitted. "But no more fog, please?"

"Why not?" Before I could further press Johann, Hiccup interjected and gave me a look to stand down.

"All right, just tell me how I can find Breakneck Bog."

"Head due East. There's a group of islands in the shape of a man's hand. Breakneck Bog is the thumb."

"Snotlout, you and the twins take him back to Berk."

"'Back to Berk?' With _this_ clown?" Snotlout pointed at Johann. "And _those_ clowns?" He now pointed at the twins.

"Would you look at him? We don't have any choice. If anything happens, you'll be glad you have them with you."

"Question: what are the rest of us doing?" Fishlegs quivered.

"We're going to Breakneck Bog." As Fishlegs trembled and whimpered, I focused on a bigger issue bubbling in my gut.

"Hiccup, can I talk to you for a second?" I pulled him aside and out of earshot of all the others, then finally looked up to meet his eyes. The green centers were shaking back and forth, a nervousness I'd only seen a couple of times before stepping forward to take center stage. He was jumpy and jittery, eager to get going and find what was supposedly from his mother.

I couldn't leave him behind on this... but I _really_ didn't trust Johann back on Berk.

"I just..." The dark green was starting to sparkle. There were very few things I couldn't say 'no' to, but that look he was giving me- granted, unintentionally- was one of them. Caving, I reached out and took his hand. "I want you to know I'm right beside you on this." I smiled. "Everyone, let's move!" 

Hiccup, Fishlegs, Astrid, and I climbed up onto our dragons and followed his eager lead. Despite the fact that he was going much faster than us, Fishlegs managed to catch up with Hiccup.

"W-What if I gave you something from my mother?" He _really_ didn't want to go to Breakneck Bog. "Or I could give you my mother? You know you love her crab cakes." Astrid swooped down closer to Fishlegs' ear.

"The fog..." she whispered eerily. "The fog..." He screamed, and she started laughing.

"Tears, Astrid! Is that what you want to see?" I shook my head and focused back on Hiccup. The look on his face was so determined that he was bordering angry at this point.

"Hiccup?" He snapped his head over to me, looking shocked that someone was talking to him. "Hold on." I patted Shriek to tell her to keep flying on her own, then eased my way over onto Toothless and rested my head against his shoulder after wrapping my arms around his waist. "We'll find it, I promise." For a second, he smiled back at me, but his attention was diverted by our end goal. 

"Look! There it is!" He pointed to a rock formation that looked less like a hand, more like a claw.

"Breakneck Bog..." We did a couple of circles around before landing on the rock that was meant to be the thumb, and with caution, the four of us inched our way through the ground-level fog. But no matter where we looked, we couldn't find any traces or semblance of a ship.

"I don't get it. We flew all around the island. No boat."

"Not even the remains of a boat..."

"You know who would take a boat? A Fog Monster." There was sudden rustling from the bushes, causing all of our dragons to go on alert.

"Settle down, bud."

"It's okay, Meatlug. It's okay."

"What _was_ that?" Astrid asked as she attempted to get Stormfly to stop stomping.

"Only one way to find out." Hiccup and Astrid urged Toothless and Stormfly forward as Fishlegs lingered in his spot, terrified.

"Wait a minute! We don't go _towards_ the weird, scary sound."

"Yeah, we do," I argued. "We _always_ do."

"I hate that about us." He reluctantly followed many paces behind as we got closer to the source.

As we got deeper into the woods, we all decided it best to climb off of our dragons in hopes of not making ourselves too obvious, and to give our dragons a break. As the world around us started to get darker, I gently reached out to take Hiccup's hand, attempting to ignore the fact that we had just stepped over a line of bones. It almost seemed like we weren't going to find anything, when Stormfly suddenly snatched up Astrid and pulled her back as an anchor dropped down from above us.

_An anchor? But, that means..._

"Wow..." I raced over to her and looked up to meet where she was looking. There was Johann's ship, resting up in the very tops of the trees, teetering on edge and threatening to fall at any moment.

"Trader Johann's ship."

"Wow. He really got off course."

"Fog Monster." We all glared at Fishlegs.

"Come on. We have to get up there and find that chest." Fishlegs whimpered at the thought of getting on the ship. "For Hiccup." He shook his head, but got on his dragon like the rest of us and followed Hiccup up to the top of the trees. We tried to land our dragons on the deck, but every time we tried, they'd flinch and go back up.

"Stormfly."

"Shriek, what's wrong?"

"They're afraid... and they're dragons. So we should ask ourselves: 'what are we doing?'"

"The boat's not gonna hold them. We have to jump down and send the dragons below."

"Great. Just great." Hiccup jumped down, first, followed by myself, then Astrid, and finally, Fishlegs, who crashed down with a clumsy 'thud.'

"Toothless, ground." The Night Fury roared at the other dragons, and the four of them descended back down below the cover of the trees.

"Stay where you can hear daddy?" Fishlegs called down to his Gronkle.

"Okay, so let's just find this thing, and get out of here. We're looking for a chest with the Berk crest on it." Out of nowhere, a single bone dropped down onto the deck of the ship. My heart jumped in my chest as I stared at it with an intense gaze.

"Care to explain that?" Suddenly, a mass amount of bones started raining down on us, striking my hands hard as I covered the top of my head.

"Below deck!" We followed Astrid down the stairs and under cover. Almost as soon as we were gone, the thudding and clattering above us came to a slow halt.

"This is just a little... bone shower. And it passed."

"You say that like it's normal for bones to start falling from the sky!" I wildly gesticulated my arms in the air.

"Bone shower. I'm the only one who thinks that's weird?"

"Um?" I stuck my arm up, and Astrid quietly raised her hand.

"Okay... it's a little weird."

"A little? Hiccup, I think you've gone off the deep end." Hiccup stood and started to look through some of the crates as a scraping sound replaced the bones falling.

"So is that."

"Okay, let's just start looking for the chest, and quickly. That doesn't sound like friendly scraping." I shook my head in disbelief as the others followed behind.

"There's such a thing as friendly scraping?" After a few seconds of no response, I split off in another direction and started to look for the chest, but all there were only the same wooden crates all in a row.

I jumped at the sound of Fishlegs screaming, and after taking a moment to collect myself, I sprinted over to where he was. But instead of finding a threat, I only saw him staring at Hiccup, holding a chest with the shining Berk crest in his hands.

"You found it," I sighed, relieved.

"Oh, thank Thor," Fishlegs gasped. "There was a hand... no skin... all scraped off." Another thud slammed against the deck above us.

"It's coming after us!" We all looked around in panic.

"Hide! In there!" Hiccup pointed to a cabinet, and we all raced inside, and I slammed the doors shut behind us, backing up until I brushed against Hiccup. "Nobody... breathe..." he whispered. The doors started to rattle as whatever was on the other side tried to break its way in.

"I just want you to know, I love you guys." As the door flew open, I reached for my sword and almost swung it out, but had enough time to stop myself and realize that on the other side of the door was Ruffnut, Snotlout, and Tuffnut holding a skeletal arm.

"Hey, guys. Need a hand?"

"Ugh!" Astrid lunged forward and tackled Tuffnut to the ground, beating him with the arm he had used to scare us.

"Ow! Ow! Ruffnut! Do something!" His sister reached for the arm and started hitting her brother with it. "Ow! _Ow_!"

"All right, all right, break it up, guys!" Astrid hit Tuffnut one more time before getting up off of him. "So let me get this straight: this was all you?"

"The bones? The scraping?"

"That's right! And this was all you: ooh! Aah! Eek!"

"Actually, most of that was me," Fishlegs corrected.

"Why would you do that?" I snapped, starting to get threateningly close to Snotlout. "What were you thinking?"

"I was gonna make Hiccup pay for sticking me with Trader Johann!" That brought my attention to the other issue.

"Where is he?"

"Don't worry about him. He's fine."

"He better not be on Berk all by himself."

"Relax, Reign. I'm not that stupid." I scoffed and set my hands on my hips as Astrid picked up the arm.

"Just so you know, I'm never going to forget this," she threatened Snotlout. "And what's with that stupid necklace?"

"You likey? Yeah, just a little something I found on deck. I can grab one for you if you want." Everyone went silent and our eyes went wide as the boat began to list back and forth, before it fell from the trees and jarred us all off our feet as it crashed to the ground.

"Everybody okay?" Hiccup asked as we all attempted to get back on our feet. I reached down to help him up so that he could keep one arm on the chest. That thing seemed like some sort of security blanket for him. He had refused to let go of it since he had found it.

The grip on his hand remained, however, when a hissing noise started to filter its way down.

"Run!" We tried to sprint up the stairs, but were stopped right in our tracks by a grey fog filtering its way down. It started to encircle our feet and creep its way up to blind all of us.

"Just so you know, this fog? Not us."

"Okay, I'll admit. Starting to come around on the 'Fog Monster' theory." I reached out and grabbed onto Hiccup as the fog completely covered us, and something started to swarm around us. We all screamed as it made laps around all of us, likely trying to determine which one of us was the most fitting prey. It made three more shadowy laps before the fog started to fade away.

"We're alive. Right?" Tuff flicked his sister's shoulder. "Ow!" She socked him in the stomach as payback.

"Can we please just get out of here?" Hiccup looked down and gasped. The chest he had been holding was gone, somehow snatched up in all the mess.

"Wait! The chest! I-I- It's gone! I just had it." 

"Too bad, so sad. See you back at Berk." Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout ran off behind us, leaving Hiccup, Astrid, and I to solve this. I shook my head at them, and my gaze happened to fall on my left hip, where my sword usually rested. But instead, all I saw was an empty sheath.

"Oh, great. It took my sword." I turned to Astrid and sighed. "You head back with the others, keep a _very_ close eye on Trader Johann. Hiccup and I will sort this out." He had gone on deck to talk to the others before they left.

"Are you sure?"

"I can probably help sort something out." She looked up for a moment, before smiling back at me.

"No. We're not gonna let you do this alone." She patted my shoulder and had me follow her up on deck. "Hold on, guys. That chest is from his mom."

"Yeah, touching story. Gotta go." I started to understand why she was so determined to keep them around.

"Put yourself in his shoes," I continued for her.

"Shoe."

_I can't believe he's still on that..._

"Ugh. What if it was your mother?" They all stopped in their tracks and turned back to look at me. "You all got the privilege of knowing your mothers. You don't know how it feels to never know who she is, wonder what you have in common with her. You got supportive, loving hugs whenever you came home, and the warm food she'd make, and the advice she'd give you." I felt Hiccup grab one of my hands, and Astrid the other. "Hiccup... never got any of that." I hadn't noticed I was getting choked up until I had finished what was on my mind. "Sorry about that."

The four looked at each other, then back at me several times before climbing off their dragons and inviting us down.

"I hate you," Snotlout declared as he pointed a finger at me. "And this does not mean we're really friends." 

The smile on Hiccup's face was undeniable as he looked over the four who had decided to, or rather been guilted to, stay.

"Thank you, guys. I mean it. Now let's go find that Fog Monster."

We knew we were closer as the fog got denser. It was almost impossible to see below us, yet somehow, Astrid was able to spot the Fog Monster traveling back to its lair.

"There it is!" 

The thing she was pointing at was moving in an odd way. It wasn't seeping or tumbling, like fog should, but instead, it almost looked like it was floating or flying.

"Is it just me, or does fog not move like that at all?" I pushed Shriek to get her to speed up and dive closer to the supposed fog, but as soon as we got close enough, it somehow split off into two monsters.

"There's two of them!"

"Astrid!" I pointed in the opposite direction.

"On it!" She led Snotlout and the twins behind her, while I brought along Hiccup and Fishlegs. It weaved back and forth between the trees before zipping around a corner and disappearing. The others came back and met us where we had landed, having no success themselves.

"We lost it," I sighed.

"So did we." Everyone climbed off their dragons to see if it would be better to find it on foot.

"Uh... it didn't lose us." Everyone snapped their heads to where Tuffnut was pointing to see a cloud of fog slithering its way closer to us. It broke up again and surrounded our group, engulfing us in fog just like last time. Toothless roared in distress, as though trying to call for someone.

"Settle down, bud." The dragons flapped their wings to hover just above the fog.

"What are they doing?"

"They're leaving us..."

"I knew Hookfang never liked me." I shook my head and pointed to the dragons, showing the way they were flapping their wings.

"They're not going anywhere. Look!" The fog started to clear away, and I thought that would be it, but when we looked around, the fog revealed itself to be covering a bunch of tiny dragons.

"They're dragons!"

"Yeah, angry ones." They screeched and roared as they glared down at our group.

"Well, look on the bright side, Fishlegs: no Fog Monster."

"I feel so much better," he deadpanned with a shaking voice.

"What _are_ those things?"

"They're like smokey dragon-pirates, but without the eye-patches."

"Smothering Smokebreath dragons..." Everyone turned to glare at Fishlegs. "What?"

"You knew about these things?"

"Well, I've read about them, but I didn't think they actually existed."

"So you went with 'Fog Monster' instead?" I groaned.

"Guys, can we please talk about this later?" Hiccup interjected. "What else did the book say?"

"They hide themselves in a veil of smoke, they're very territorial, and... uh..." Fishlegs trailed off as his memory eluded him. "I forget the third thing." A few of the dragons lept at us, one of them trying to take Astrid's axe from her. I was ready to defend myself, despite not having a weapon, but before I could do anything the necklace I wore was snapped off my chest.

"Hey! Bring that back!"

"There's too many of them! Let's fall back!" My heart sank. 

"No! We can't!"

"Uh... Fall back where?"

"Give us a fire line!"

"Don't have to ask us twice!" Barf and Belch spewed out their gas and lit it on fire to cause an explosion that would push back the Smokebreaths, giving us a chance to retreat. I stared down at the Smokebreaths as they retreated into their cave, my heart hitting my chest as hard as my disappointment. I _had_ to get that necklace back, and now. It meant too much to me to just let them have it.

"What are we doing? Why are we still here?"

"I can't leave here without that chest."

"You don't even know if they have it!" I shook my head and leaned down against Shriek.

"I have a pretty good idea. Let's get a closer look." I stared intensely at where the Smokebreaths had gone. "Uh, Reign?" I looked over at Hiccup to see that the others had already gone, and he was standing at my side.

"They took my necklace." My voice broke, and I jumped down to hug him. "I need it back, now. I-I've never taken it off before. I'm so sorry, Hiccup. I-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay. We'll get it back, I promise." I sniffled and leaned my head against his shoulder.

"And we're getting that chest back, too." He smiled and me, and the two of us climbed down to hide behind rocks with the others. As more flew by us, I noticed they were each carrying something shiny.

_My sword... the necklace... Hiccup's chest..._

"Fishlegs? Anything more you'd like to share?" I hissed.

"Unfortunately, yes. That third thing? The Smothering Smokebreaths build their nest out of metallic objects."

"That doesn't sound too cozy. Or, does it?"

"Thank you for always adding essential bits to our conversations, Tuff."

"It's not supposed to be. They do it to defend against attacks from bigger dragons."

"I wish I could see in there."

"Yeah, you do." Tuffnut cackled as he looked at his hand through a spyglass, which I was pretty sure he didn't have when we showed up.

"Where did you get that?"

"Duh, the ship. Or whatever that was in the tree." Hiccup grunted and snatched the spyglass from his hands, using it to look into the cave the dragons were building their nest in.

"They're melding them all together," he informed us. "The chest! It's in there! We've got to get them away from that pile of loot."

"Maybe we can lure them away," Astrid suggested.

"With what?" A glint out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I slowly turned toward where it was coming from. Snotlout's necklace was shining under the sunlight as he cleaned it against his tunic. He looked up to see all of us staring at his necklace, but remained completely clueless.

"Haha, what?"

"Here, dragons. I've got something for you. Over here." Snotlout dangled the necklace from his hands and taunted the Smokebreaths, hoping to draw them out long enough for Hiccup, Fishlegs, and I to get in the cave and get our stuff back. Sure enough, a large cloud of smoke emerged from inside and went after Snotlout and his necklace. 

"Okay, quickly. Those things will be done with Snotlout any second now." The three of us took off on our dragons and steered them into the cave. As soon as Toothless touched down, Hiccup jumped off of him and started to climb up the large pile to where his chest was.

"Um, guys?" Fishleg's voice quivered. "They're coming." I turned Shriek around to stand our ground against the Smokebreaths to buy Hiccup time.

"Hiccup, look out!" The fog wrapped itself around us and blinded me from being able to see exactly where they were.

"Toothless!" The Night Fury roared and flapped his wings to clear away the fog.

"Let's get out of here!" I cried.

"Aah! Don't leave me!" I rolled my eyes and turned back to face Snotlout.

"Great," Hiccup groaned. "Plasma blast!" Toothless fired three shots in Snotlout's direction to scare off the Smokebreaths, allowing Snotlout to run and climb up with Hiccup. The Smokebreaths chased them in pursuit of Snotlout's necklace. I sighed and patted Shriek to get her out of the cave as the others fled. 

"Anything you have that's metal, throw it at them!" Astrid ordered. Everyone started throwing any of the weapons they had, and it seemed to be enough to satisfy them.

"We did it!" I looked over at Hiccup to see one of the Smokebreaths heading straight for his leg. 

"Hiccup!" It clamped its teeth down on the metal and yanked Hiccup right from the saddle. He gripped tightly onto his dragon as he fought to kick the little creature away from him. Toothless flicked his tail fin so that he and Hiccup would start spiraling toward the ground, when Fishlegs dove under them and shot up at the lingering Smokebreath.

"You will _not_ haunt my dreams!" he screamed after the fleeing dragon. "Because I'll never sleep again."

I looked at Hiccup and tried my best to hide my disappointment that my necklace was lost.

"Go ahead, open it."

I placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder as he, his father, and I stared down at the chest. Hiccup had asked me to be there with him when he opened it, and so here I was. With shaking hands, he slowly pried open the top of the chest and looked down at what was inside. It was a small, stuffed dragon that looked as though it had been through everything. Hiccup, however, seemed to recognize it immediately. His eyes went wide as he reached down into the container and held the little dragon in his hands.

"I remember this," he whispered.

"Aye, you should." Chief Stoick wrapped an arm around his son. "Your mother made that for you, when you were just a baby. Scared you half to death." I chuckled. Hiccup, afraid of dragons? That seemed almost impossible, considering what he'd achieved. "You didn't sleep for a week."

"What? I was afraid of dragons?" On cue, Toothless purred at his rider.

"Oh-ho, _terrified_. One day, we were out fishing, and you threw that thing into the sea."

"How did you find it?"

"Well, it showed up in a fishing net. Trader Johann got it in trade, and contacted me." Hiccup's face changed, and one of his hands reached out for my own. I took it with a smile and squeezed it gently.

"I was so little when Mom... you know. I was starting to get afraid that I'd forget her. But now... I love it." I smiled affectionately at Hiccup's words and tilted my head at him.

"Oh, Hiccup. It would make your mother very, very happy to finally hear that." Hiccup broke away from me for a moment to hug his father.

"Thanks, Dad." He looked at me and smiled, before taking my hand again and leading me upstairs. We both sat down on his bed, and he turned the dragon around in his hands. "I think about my mom a lot. A-And how we... we lost her." He looked over at me, a slightly broken look in his eyes. "And then, I think about all these times I've put you in danger, or you've gotten in trouble and needed help, and I... I'm scared I'm going to lose you, too." 

My eyes went wide as I looked back at Hiccup again. How long had he been thinking about this? My heart dropped in my chest as I reached out to grab his hand and started to think about all the times I'd given him the chance to worry. We both did this to each other, but it just came with the job of being Dragon Riders and Trainers. I'd never stopped to think about how much he might worry about me.

"Hiccup, you're not going to lose me." He tried to look away, but I reached out and grabbed his chin with my fingers. "Hey, I mean it. There are things we can't prepare for, but I promise to you that you'll never lose me. There will _always_ be a Hiccup and Reign." 

That, right there, got through to him. He reached out to touch my cheek, then extremely gently,- as though he were afraid I was going to get hurt- pulled my face closer to his and kissed me. I sighed and moved my hand from on his chin to his hand, and only when I felt guilty tears forming did I pull away.

"I'm sorry I didn't get the necklace back." I closed my eyes and tried my best not to start sobbing.

"What, this old thing?" My eyes snapped open, and I laughed as Hiccup held up the engraved piece of silver. "It's right here."

"When did you...?"

"I snagged it right before Toothless and I got out of there." He reached around to clasp it back on me. 

"I guess I don't need to worry, as long as I have you and Toothless."

_Most people are afraid of things because they don't understand them. For me, it was the feeling of losing something I cared about. But then, I lost the most valuable thing in the world to me, and got it back from the most valuable person in the world to me. And suddenly, it wasn't so scary._


	18. (Hiccup)

_Vikings are strong, tough, and courageous. But courage is a funny thing: Many are born with it. For some, it's a never-ending struggle. And for others, well... they just don't know enough to be afraid._

Ruffnut and Tuffnut bashed the shields they were holding against each other. Tuff did his best to defend himself against the unending fury of his sister, but she was crazy and fast, gaining the upper hand and knocking him onto his back.

"As I've said a million times," Gobber began as he stepped up to where the twins had been fighting, "and as Ruffnut has demonstrated so splendidly, the shield can be your most important weapon. Who's next?"

"Hold on!" Tuffnut held up his index finger as he stood. "I don't get to hit her back?"

"On your own time. Hiccup, Reign." 

A smirk crossed the redhead's face, and I started to get nervous. If there was one thing she was good at fighting with, it was a shield. We never gave her one of her own because she could do some serious damage with it. And of course, Gobber knew this, and knew that she was dangerous with a shield, but he must have thought that she would go easy on me.

That smirk said otherwise. 

"Well, I-I don't think it's really fair for me to be fighting-"

Before I could finish what I was saying, Reign launched a kick that nearly missed my face, then tried to throw a couple of punches in my direction. Using her position to my advantage, I grabbed her leg and flipped her over my head, looking back at her in amusement. However, that only seemed to spur her more, and she jumped forward to tackle me to the ground and pin my arm against my back. Gobber leaned down to get closer to my eye level.

"When you're in a situation like this, it's best to remain calm and take deep breaths." Trying my best to fight through the immense pain, I sucked in a bunch of air and held my breath. "When that's not an option, I would advise playing dead." After releasing the breath I had been holding in, I collapsed onto the ground of the academy and tried to remain limp. "Just like that. Well done, Hiccup." Reign finally got off of me. "Good form, Reign."

"Are you okay?" she asked with genuine concern. I reached back to try and pop my shoulder back into place.

"Never been better," I groaned sarcastically. "Shoulder should pop back into place in no time." She tilted her head as her green eyes shone with concern as she reached down to help me up. 

"Let me see if I can..." She wrapped her fingers around my shoulder in a few different ways before suddenly and violently yanking it up and setting the joint back in the socket. Pain like being stabbed shot through my shoulder for a few moments, then faded away as she reached out to grab my hand and squeeze it. "Sorry."

"Snotlout, Fishlegs, let's see what you've got."

"Whoo!" Snotlout jumped up, getting himself ready for a fight. "I think we all know what I've got! Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi!" Fishlegs was nowhere to be seen.

"Fishlegs, don't be shy. Vikings can't rely on dragons alone to protect them!" Everyone looked around, but Fishlegs was long gone, if he had even been here in the first place. “Huh. Thoughts on Fishlegs’ whereabouts? Anyone?”

“Guys, he’s Fishlegs, he doesn’t like fighting,” Reign reasoned with everyone. “I’m sure he’ll be back in an hour or two, once he thinks the training would be over. I say we call it for the day and wait for him to come back. And, please, don’t confront him when he does.” Everyone nodded and made their way out of the academy, leaving Reign and I. She ran a hand through her hair before sighing. “Seriously, is your shoulder okay?”

“It’s a little sore, but don’t worry about it.” I pulled her closer to Toothless and smiled at her. “Care for a ride on Toothless?”

“Are you sure you’ll be able to handle that?” She wouldn’t let the shoulder-thing go, and although it was sweet how worried she was, I was going to be fine.

“Just relax. Come on, let’s go.” I climbed up and did my best to help her on before patting Toothless to walk out of the academy.

“Hi.” She leaned forward and rested her head against my back. “How are you holding up? I know things have been a little stressful since Alvin and his Outcasts started coming after you.”

_Stressful for myself, or stressful for her?_

“Well, I’ve had bigger things to distract me. Like your birthday.” She scoffed and picked her head back up.

“You’re really making a big deal about this thing. It’s just me turning sixteen, nothing special.” I shook my head. She always got like this, whenever attentions were just on her.

“Yes, but it’s your first birthday where we’re…” I trailed off and looked back at her awkwardly, waiting for some sort of reaction. She turned red and looked down at Toothless before bringing her jade bowls back up to meet me.

“I suppose… that’s important. B-But it’s really not that big of a deal, please don’t go out of your way to do anything crazy.”

“I told you, I already have stuff planned.”

“Hiccup…” I squeezed one of her hands.

“Just trust me. You know I wouldn’t do anything you’d be embarrassed by.” She shrugged and laid her head back down as Toothless took off.

“That’s very true.”

It was nighttime at this point, and Fishlegs still hadn’t returned to Berk. No one knew where he had gone off to, and we couldn’t afford to scatter people in different directions to find him, especially now that it was dark out.

“I’m starting to get a little worried about Fishlegs,” Reign announced as she looked at the sky, as though doing that would make Fishlegs appear. “You think he’s okay?”

“He looks okay to me.” Ruffnut pointed up to the sky, where Fishlegs and Meatlug were beginning their descent down into the village. But there was some odd… aura, or something, around his hand.

“Is Fishlegs… glowing?”

“Actually, I think he is.” Snotlout approached the rest of us and pounded his fist into his hand.

“Not for long.” The pair landed in front of us, and Fishlegs had this big smile on his face.

“Uh, Fishlegs, where were you this afternoon?”

“You missed hand-to-face combat! My hand to your face!”

“I prefer to use the part of my body above the neck.”

“What neck?” Snotlout quipped.

“Oh, amusing,” Fishlegs deadpanned. “I refuse to encourage your violent tendencies, Snotlout.”

“Don’t knock it ‘till you try it.”

“He’s glowing again,” Ruffnut hissed.

“I know, spooky.”

“It’s not me that’s glowing.” He reached into his bag and pulled out some sort of orb that was shifting colors. “It’s this.”

“Wow…” It was fascinating, attention grabbing.

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure. Meatlug dug it up while we were out today. There was nothing else around it that looked like it, so I thought we’d bring it back to see if anyone here knew what it was.” Reign smiled and tugged on Fishlegs’ arm.

“Well, I think Gobber’s a pretty good person to consult.”

“It’s a Stone of Good Fortune.” The small crowd that had been gathered around us in the Great Hall ‘ooh’ed and ‘ahh’ed. “My Great Uncle’s wife’s brother once told me of its powers.”

“I thought he was mute,” Mulch protested.

“Until he found the stone! Then we couldn’t shut him up…” Gobber turned his attention back to Fishlegs. “This stone brings good luck to whomever comes in contact with it.”

“Stone of Good Fortune. Huh…” Suddenly, everyone started shouting and yelling at Fishlegs, offering up items to trade with him for the stone, or just flat-out asking to touch it. The crowd started to close in on him, turning into somewhat of a mob and tackled him to the ground. Reign tensed up, as though she were ready to get in there and break it up, but at the same time, it was clear that she knew there was no way she would be able to even make a dent on a whole group of Vikings.

“That’s enough! Everyone stand back!” The crowd parted to reveal my father in the doorway, standing firm and tall to intimidate the crowd. “Who found this?” he asked as he got closer.

“Uh, right here, Chief.” Fishlegs held his hand up in the air from his position on the floor. Gobber made his way over and helped him up.

“It’s a Stone of Good Fortune.” The crowd started to shout again at the mention of the name.

“Please,” one woman begged, “my baby, she needs good fortune.” Tuffnut leaned over to look at the child and gasped.

“Ugh! That’s a baby?” The woman yanked her child away, offended. “I thought it was a bundle of sticks wrapped in bacon.”

“Never mind Tuffnut,” my dad warned.

“Three yaks for the stone!” The crowd of people began to shout again. “Four chickens!” Fishlegs cowered toward Gobber.

“Twenty sheep, and my firstborn, Gustav.” She held up her son.

“Me? Huh?”

“Listen to me!” Everyone went silent. “This belongs to Fishlegs, and what he does with it is up to him.”

“I-I’ll give you ten yaks!”

“Four chickens!”

“Three chickens!”

This had gone too far. Reign and I stepped in to take Fishlegs away from everyone.

“Maybe we should get you out of here…” We each took one of his arms and pushed him out the doors of the Great Hall, shutting them behind us all of us to keep everyone protesting inside.

“Twenty sheep _and_ Gustav Larson. You’re turning that down?” Snotlout asked. Clearly, he had his own, greedy ideas about what should be done with the stone. “Come on! What do you want for it?”

“You can’t have it, Snotlout. Not for any price.” Fishlegs curled back and held the stone against him.

“Oh, I think I can. You seem to forget when Snotlout wants something, he just takes it.” Reign stepped up and stood right in Snotlout’s face.

“How badly do you really want it, Snotlout?” Her words were a threat, a challenge that thankfully caused Snotlout to back down. She could be pretty scary when she got that close to you. Snotlout scoffed and broke eye contact with her.

“You’re lucky I don’t hit girls,” he mumbled. Reign tightened her hands into fists as her blood visibly began to boil.

“Yeah? So are you.” Everyone but Snotlout turned to usher Fishlegs back to his home, and as soon as he was there and out of earshot, she started to express her concerns. “That stone is more trouble than it’s worth. Maybe we shouldn’t have asked Gobber…” She buried her head in her hands. “This is my fault.”

“Hey, come on.” I set a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face me. “Reign, get your head out of your hands.” She slowly lifted her head up to make eye contact. “Everything’s going to be fine. Even if people mob Fishlegs for the rest of his life over this thing, he’s got us to help him.” Her hands moved to her hips as she shook her head.

“I’m just not entirely convinced that thing’s a stone…” Her eyes darted to the side for a moment, before she suddenly reached out to hug me. “Never mind that. I’m going to get some sleep. I’ll see you all tomorrow.” She jogged off toward her home so that she could get some rest, and the twins soon followed.

“I need to take this thing back.” Astrid and I turned to see Fishlegs standing in his doorway, the stone back in his bag. She and I glanced at each other, but understood why Fishlegs wanted to do this. The three of us called our dragons, and we set out to follow Fishlegs to the island he had been on.

“You sure you want to do this, Fishlegs?” I asked as we approached the island.

“There’s too much stress! You saw that mob, they ran right over me.”

“Like a sack of flour,” Astrid egged.

“I just want to put this thing back where I found it, and never think about it again,” he declared. “Stone of Good Fortune… Yeah, right…”

Meatlug suddenly took a sharp dive down, as though she were being yanked down by something. Without hesitation, Astrid and I pushed Toothless and Stormfly to follow.

“Whoa, girl! Where are you going?” As we made our way over the island, Toothless roared at something we couldn’t see.

“They sense something.” I looked up to try and see if I could spot what was upsetting him, and my eyes caught something unusual. The trees were glowing… “Hey, I thought you said you found it buried in the sand.”

“I did.”

“Then what’s that?” I pointed at the trees ahead of us. We pushed on to get a closer look, the forest shimmering around us as we got lower into the trees.

“Are those…?”

“… Dragon nests…”

“Okay, but why would a dragon fill its nest with gems?” The pieces suddenly fell together in my head.

“Because they’re _not_ gems…”

“They’re dragon eggs! How did I miss that?" Fishlegs smacked his hand against his forehead. "The egg I dug up must have fallen out and gotten buried. I can't believe I almost kept this baby away from its mother."

"But you didn't," I reminded him. "Now, let's put this egg back, and get out of here." We lowered ourselves toward the nearest tree branch, and Fishlegs gingerly removed the egg from his bag. Toothless and Stormfly hissed and protested. "The mother must be close."

"Yeah, really close." Stormfly stiffened her tail and stuck her spines straight out. "Fishlegs, say goodbye, and let's go!"

"Okay, okay! Goodbye, little color-changing dragon egg." He set it down on the branch and we took off as quickly as possible. But there was the sound of trees crashing behind us, and when I looked back, I saw that something was in pursuit of us.

"They're following us!"

"Yeah, but what are they?"

"I don't see anything back there!" In a split second, a strange looking dragon appeared from under the cover and started shooting a green liquid at us. They didn't manage to hit us, but when one of the blobs struck a tree, it immediately fell down.

"Whatever it is, it's shooting some kind of acid at us." A blob of acid shot just by Fishlegs, narrowly missing him.

"Invisible, acid-shooting dragons? Great..."

"We have to get out of these trees." The dragon behind us roared and shot out more acid in our direction. We quickly wove in and out as the forest fell down around us, barely escaping in the nick of time.

"Sprays hot, burning acid... here it is! It's called a Changewing, according to the Book of Dragons." Fishlegs set down the book so that all of us could see it.

It was the next morning, and Astrid had clearly filled Reign in on what had happened, because she seemed to understand the situation pretty well. But she was clearly still tired, because every now and then, her head would start to fall down onto the table, only to snap up a few seconds later. I couldn't tell if she had been in a deep sleep before Astrid had woken her up to bring her here, or if she hadn't slept at all.

"Where are the drawings?" I asked, looking at a page with only words on it.

"There are none."

"I guess you can't really draw it if you can't see it."

"Listen to what it says: 'this remarkable dragon is able to change the color of its skin to blend in with its surroundings.'"

"Does it say anything about eggs?" Reign asked with limited enthusiasm, her voice slightly garbled.

"No. Those didn't look like dragon eggs, right?" Fishlegs was starting to panic. "If I had seen that, you know I never would have gone and stolen-"

"Fishlegs!" He snapped out of his spiral and looked at me. "Calm down. None of us knew."

"But I should have!" He shot out from his seat and paced, wildly gesticulating his arms. "I should have known!"

"All I know is that it's a good thing we brought that egg back to its mother. Who knows what they'd do if the eggs were still on Berk?" 

There was the groaning of the doors opening, and the four of us looked over to see Ruff and Tuff coming in our direction, holding a familiar-looking, glowing ball.

"Uhhhh, what's that?" I asked cautiously.

"Uh, I don't know. Maybe a lifetime of good luck." The twins beat their helmets against each other, causing Ruffnut to fall down from impact.

"I'll take that!" Astrid reached out to snatch the egg from Tuff, but he yanked his hand away from her.

"Over my cold, dead body!" The twins started to run away. 

"Where did you get it?"

"We traded for it!" 

"Traded with who?" They had raced out of the doors before we could get an answer.

"Come on, we have to figure this out."

Reign seemed to have collected herself enough to stand up and at least fake having energy, if she hadn't somehow had some sort of boost. She led everyone out the doors and through the village, following what sounded like a crowd groaning and protesting. She pushed her way through until we found a group of a few people just as they were parting, revealing Snotlout and Gustav standing above everyone.

"Snotlout, what are you doing?" I demanded.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting rich!"

"But you can't!" Fishlegs protested.

"I already did. Gems are gone."

"Gone," Gustav assured. We all looked at him for a moment before focusing back on the issue at hand.

"They're not gems," I started, "and they certainly don't bring good luck."

"Puh-lease." Snotlout jumped down and approached us. "They're bringing _me_ good luck. I'm up to my neck in weapons and livestock."

"Snotlout!" Astrid's voice was sharp. "Those are dragon eggs!"

"Uh, Changewings, to be exact."

"Changewings, schmange- I don't care what they are! All I know is I'm rich, and you're not."

"We're rich, and you're not." Reign scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Thor, he's like an exact copy of a younger Snotlout."

"Snotlout, listen to me. We need to get those eggs off of Berk before something really bad happens."

"Uh, you do _not_ want to separate a dragon mother from her egg. _Especially_ one you can't see that shoots burning acid."

"Really? You did." Fishlegs began to stutter.

"That wa- That was an accident."

"Accident, on purpose, rich, poor- who cares? They're gone, and I have a 'no return' policy. Tell 'em, Gustav."

"No returns," the little kid confirmed as he passed by us.

"Heh. If you want them, you'll have to take it up with my customers." Snotlout and Gustav gathered up the last of their things and hauled it all away, done with their business and this conversation.

"Oh, this is all my fault," Fishlegs lamented.

"It's not your fault, Fishlegs," I tried to assure him.

"Yes it is! If I hadn't gone to that island and brought that egg back, then Snotlout wouldn't have known where to go get them, and we wouldn't be in danger of imminent attack by mother Changewings!"

"When you put it that way... it really _is_ his fault." Reign and I both turned to glare at Astrid. "Just saying." After shaking her head, Reign took gentle steps over to Fishlegs and sat down beside him.

"Look, it doesn't matter whose fault it is." Her tone was soft and soothing as she tried to make him feel better. "We just have to find those eggs."

Reign aggressively dropped Tuffnut in front of Fishlegs, Astrid, Ruffnut- whom Astrid had picked up a few moments earlier- and myself, then hopped off of Shriek and stood her ground.

"Guys, that's not a good luck stone, it's a dragon egg," I filled them in. "And it's mother is a dangerous dragon that blends in with just about anything and spits hot, burning acid and destroys whatever is in its path." The twins glanced at each other in an odd way.

"Okay, so... like, if a tree, for example, were spitting acid and melting everything in sight-"

"-you're saying that would be one of these dragons?" The rest of us looked at each other in astonishment. How did they put that together so quickly?

"Wow. They got it on the first try."

"We're not stupid," Ruffnut shot back.

"At least, I'm not. And besides, there's one right there." Tuffnut pointed beyond our heads just as a couple of trees crashed to the ground. Toothless roared and took a defensive position as the crashing got closer. A strange shadow began to slither its way down a tree right in front of us.

"Whoa. Changewing..." It quickly removed its camouflage and darted from the top of the tree to a rock nearby us. When it wasn't disguised, the Changewing was a deep red color, with streams that looked like leaves coming off the top of its head. It was a beautiful dragon that you couldn't get to close to, otherwise it would kill you.

"It's amazing... It really _does_ blend in."

"Hiccup, quick, train it so we can keep it! And have it spit acid at Ruffnut."

She punched her brother in the arm to knock him over, but that turned out to be convenient timing, because before Tuffnut could get up, the Changewing spit out acid and jumped onto the ground. Everyone dove out of the way as it shot more acid in our direction. As trees were struck down, three more Changewings revealed themselves.

"Nice try," Tuffnut taunted, "but as you can see, I am holding the stone!" One of the Changewings grabbed Tuffnut and shook him violently until he dropped the egg, then threw the boy out of the way to catch it. Satisfied, the other Changewinsg flew after it, and they were out of sight in only a few moments.

"Did you see that?" I asked, in utter disbelief.

"At least they're gone." 

"Uh, they're not gone."

"How do you know?"

"Because, the Changewings worked as a team to save that one egg." Reign was the first one to figure out what we meant.

"Wait... are you saying what I think you're saying."

"Oh!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "That's what he's saying! Wait, what are you saying?"

"None of the Changewings are going to leave until all of their eggs are safe."

"And they are going to tear apart Berk until they find every last one." Reign almost immediately jumped up onto Shriek.

"Then we need to get back there and collect as many as possible, hopefully all of them. And we have to do it now, before the reach the village."

She didn't even wait for any of us before taking off and going to gather up all of the Changewing eggs. I shook my head and quickly jumped up to follow her, finding Shriek waiting outside of my hut. The five of us ran in just as it appeared she had finished explaining the situation to my dad.

"So, what you're telling me, is that our village is about to be under siege by a bunch of wild dragons we can't see?" I stepped up to stand beside her.

"Don't forget the hot, burning acid," Tuffnut piped up.

"Yes, Tuff, I mentioned that."

"What? It was awesome!"

"Well, grab your dragons, then. We'll fight them off."

"Chief, I wish it were that easy. No matter what we do, they won't go away until they get what they want."

"They just want their babies. Oh, it's all my fault." Reign gently reached out to place a hand on Fishlegs' shoulder, attempting to reassure him.

"Stoick, I just realized something!" The door flew open as Gobber stormed in. "It's _not_ a Stone of Good Fortune. It's a Changewing egg! I always get those two confused. So, what are you up to." Everyone looked at Gobber with dead or unamused expressions as he remained oblivious. 

"Reign, what are you suggesting we do?" my dad asked, turning his attention back to us.

"I think we should get everyone off the island until we can get the eggs back with their mothers, and the Changewings are gone. Hopefully, it's not too late."

"In all the years I've been chief, we've never turned in fear of anything. I'm not about to start." Right at that moment, a scream pierced through the air from outside. Quickly, we rushed out the doors to see a Changewing burst through the front of a hut and chase down on of the villagers.

"They're looking for their eggs!" Acid was shot at someone's door, melting it and causing them to run out and drop their chest. It must have had one of the eggs in it, because the Changewing picked it up and tossed it toward one of the others. My dad grabbed a wooden pole and started after one of the dragons, but as soon as it touched down on a rock, it changed to look like the colors behind it. My dad stood there and stared at the rock for a moment.

"Where did it go?"

"That would be the 'blending in, can't see it at all' part."

"I see it." Tuff stuck out his hand. "I got this, Chief." He got closer to the wrong rock. "Stay, dragon! I am now your master." He reached out and set his fingers down on the stone, and seemed to think he had somehow subdued the angry Changewing.

"It's gone, isn't it?"

"Oh, long gone." The commotion in the village drew our attention back in that direction, just in time to see a Changewing dart between the rooftops.

"You and the others find those eggs," my father ordered me. "We'll handle the Changewings."

"Come on." Reign followed in my step as we raced straight into the mayhem of the village. As people sprinted and scattered, we gathered up their eggs and did our best to get people to get the eggs back to the Changewings. Some people protested, but we managed to get back what we thought were all of them, before following everyone else down to the docks. "Dad, stop the evacuation! We got them all! The Changewings are gone."

"Then how do you explain _that_?" Gobber pointed to the Changewings slithering down the docks toward us, eyes lowered in anger.

"Oh, no. There are four of them."

"But there were only three eggs." Reign followed their gaze to try and figure out what was going on.

"They're going for the ship."

"What do they want with-"

"Not the ship. It's what's on it: another egg. Can you guys keep the Changewings at bay?"

"What are you going to do?" 

"Something I should have done a long time ago." Fishlegs took Meatlug down onto the ship, and the Changewings roared.

"Dad? Reign?"

"Got it." He jumped onto Thornado, and the two of them urged their dragons to send out booms that caused the Changewings to jump. Then she, my dad, and I took off and chased them away from the ships, just to keep them from harming anyone until Fishlegs could get the final egg.

"Fishlegs better hurry up," Reign huffed. Suddenly, one of the Changewings looked back and shot acid at her. She just barely managed to duck out of the way, leaning all the way back until she was lying on Shriek. But when she tried to get back up, her grip slipped, and she started to plummet.

"Reign!" Without thinking, I dove down and hovered right below her, managing to catch her just in time.

"Oh, my gods. Hiccup, the Changewings are gone." I looked around, only to find that she was right.

"They must have gone back for the last egg. Dad, we have to head back, now!" We turned around and flew back to Berk as fast as we could, only to find it quiet, peaceful. 

"Down there!" I followed Reign's instruction down to find Fishlegs passed out on the ground. As soon as we landed, Reign hopped off and rushed over to him. "Come on, Fishlegs... Get up!" She violently shook him until he shot awake.

"Aah! Reign, quit it!" She released him and sheepishly stood up beside me. "They're gone."

"I'm telling you, up close- face-to-face- it was _much_ more ferocious." I finished the head on the drawing of the Changewing, thanks to Fishlegs' description. "I'm just saying, one of us was there, and one of us wasn't." He leaned down to inspect the drawing. "That's it! Now do the teeth, and the hot, dripping acid." I did as told, finishing up the drawing. "Perfect."

"You know, Fishlegs..."

"I do, Hiccup. We need to find one, so we can study it."

"No. So we can train it."

"Snotlout, Fishlegs!" Gobber called. "You're up." Reign made her way over as Fishlegs got ready to fight.

"Excuse me. There's something I've been meaning to take care of." She smirked and helped me up as Fishlegs picked up a shield.

"I'm glad to see him gaining some confidence." Gently, she leaned her arm against mine.

"You ready for our lunch?" She chuckled.

"I can't believe you're starting this birthday stuff a week early." I moved the Book of Dragons into one hand and reached out to grab hers.

_Having courage isn't the same as having no fear. It's being afraid and pushing forward anyways. Whether that means saving a baby dragon, protecting those you love, or giving a special someone the butt-kicking they so richly deserve._


	19. (Reign)

_Vikings have a strong sense of community. It's important for us to be a part of a family, and to celebrate that connection._

I ran my fingers through the water in the lake as Hiccup taught the other riders about dragons calls. He did his own to demonstrate, and in the distance, you could just barely hear Toothless roar.

" _That's_ why you brought us out here?" Snotlout groaned. "To honk into the wind?" I shifted my position to lie on my back and rest my hand in the water.

"Just wait, Snotlout," Fishlegs sighed.

"'Dragon calls." Pfft. Whatever." He hopped up onto a rock to sit, bored with this lesson. The sun was just starting to come up over the walls of the cove, coating my skin in warm sunshine. 

"Uh, guys?" I looked over to see Snotlout holding a metal disk and reflecting the sunshine off of it, somehow distracting the twins.

"Haha, idiots."

"Snotlout."

"So stupid..."

"Seriously?"

"What? It's fun." Hiccup glared at him until he caved. "Fine."

"Oh! Gone again!" Hiccup sighed before calling out for Toothless again.

"And, nothing! Can we go now?" Snotlout whined. At that moment, the sound of Toothless whipping around above us got louder.

"You were saying?" Astrid smirked. Toothless landed and roared happily, the closest thing to a smile crossing his little face.

"Fine. I hate to admit it, but that was pretty cool."

"Not as cool as that disappearing, shiny thing. You can never catch it," Tuffnut laughed.

"Fishlegs, want to show us your dragon call?"

"I thought you'd never ask. You see, the call of the Gronkle is as unique as the dragon itself: raw, guttural, intense, but with a subtle lilt."

"Just do it already!" Fishlegs let out a deep roar that almost sounded like it would scratch up his throat, and Meatlug descended down to her rider.

"Well done, Fishlegs," Hiccup complimented.

"Oh, I'm not done. Watch this." He roared again, much deeper and more intense this time.

"I don't want to know _what_ part of his body that came from. Or do I...?"

"Whoo. I gotta take a knee." Fishlegs leaned over in exhaustion as large group of Gronkles flew overhead. I slowly sat up, fascinated with what he had done.

"Whoa. Nice herd."

"Be home for dinner!" he called to Meatlug as she took off with the other Gronkles. "You're having granite! That's her favorite."

"Okay, anybody think they can beat that?" Astrid stepped up confidently.

"I'll give it a shot. Watch this." She hopped up onto a rock and let out something that sounded like a howl, summoning a group of Nadders flying in a perfect V-Formation.

"Good job, Astrid. First try."

"Uh, I have an important question." Everyone looked over at Tuffnut. 

"Is it actually important this time?" Hiccup sighed.

"Uh, yeah, it always is. Why are we even doing this, anyway? I don't get it." I rolled my eyes and laid back down.

"Well, first of all, you never know when you're gonna be separated from your dragon, and the only way to communicate is to call it."

"Sorry, didn't get it."

"And, second of all, it's Bork Week, and my dad asked us to put on a Dragon Air Parade."

"Why do we care about this Bork guy anyway? Wasn't he a dragon killer?" 

"Hey, Bork only killed dragons in self-defense," Fishlegs interjected. "He studied them, wrote about them, lived and breathed them."

"That sounds familiar," I muttered with a smile on my face. 

"Without him, there would be no Book of Dragons."

" _And_ without the Book of Dragons, there would be no-"

"-reason for you to live?" Snotlout teased.

"Dragon Academy, actually," Hiccup grunted. "And there would be no really cool Dragon Air Show."

"So when we do this 'really cool Dragon Air Show,' who's _he_ going to fly with?" Snotlout pointed in Toothless' direction.

"I'm working on that." He sighed and turned around to look down at me, offering a smile before addressing the others. "That's it for today. You can all go home." They all flew away, leaving Hiccup, Toothless, and I to our own devices. After a few moments of hesitation, he laid down beside me. "What's up with you?" I smiled and turned my head to face him.

"What do you mean?" He reached out and grabbed my hand.

"Well, I don't think I've ever seen you this quiet. Unless you're tired, you always seemed so bouncy and alive, and maybe a little angry." I laughed and reached my other hand into the water, scooping some up and flicking it into his face. "Hey! That's not fair, I can't reach the water!"

"Oh, no, do I have the advantage?" I poorly feigned sympathy. "That's terrible."

Suddenly, he jumped up and reached over, scooping up a bunch of water on my head. I lept up and laughed at him, before taking off my sword, metal belt, and chest armor, then reached around and pushed Hiccup in.

"Aah!" Quickly, I jumped in after him and swam down, trying to find him under the water. But I couldn't find him, and I started to panic. I could feel my lungs started to burn, however, so I had to go back up for air. Frantically, I looked around.

"Hiccup? Hiccup! _Hiccup!"_

"Hey, hey, Reign, it's okay." I whipped around to see Hiccup wading right behind me. "I'm right here." The pressure on my chest released as I turned around and saw him smiling at me. "I'm here, I'm okay." 

"Oh, thank the gods." Some anger surged through me, and I shoved him. "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Ugh! Sometimes, you... you really..." I was having trouble finding a way to express my feelings at the moment, so I just screamed and pounded my hands against the water.

"Whoa, whoa, Reign, hey... What's going on?" My head began to ache and my nose stang as tears rose to the surface. "Hey, come here." Hiccup took my hand and led the two of us out of the water, sitting down on the shore by the lake. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders as I wiped the water from my eyes and moved my hair from my face.

"I'm sorry, it's... it's Bork Week."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..." I sighed. "Before I knew where my family was, it made me upset because I didn't have family to celebrate, and now that I do... I _really_ don't want to celebrate him." I laughed at my own misery before leaning against Hiccup. "I just... I kinda know how Toothless feels." He seemed to be struggling with what to say at first, because he was stuttering like a madman, before reaching out to move more of my wet hair from my face.

"Hey, but Bork Week is also your birthday week! Doesn't that make it better?" I shook my head.

"You're supposed to celebrate your birthday with your family. No matter what, I lose." He sighed and rested his head against mine. 

"I'm gonna try and make this the best birthday you've ever had." I smiled at him, something he was always so determined to make me do. "Come on, let's start to head back."

We watched as the flock of Gronkles flew over us, making another lap as Fishlegs trained them for the show. Toothless whined sadly as he watched them fly together, and Hiccup sighed in defeat.

"I wish there were other Night Furies for you, bud." I finished wringing out my hair, then reached out and placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. He looked over and smiled at me, when the cry of a Nadder came from above our heads, and we looked over to see Astrid landing.

"There you two are!" She raised an eyebrow as she climbed off of Stormfly. "Why are you wet?" Hiccup and I looked at each other and blushed.

"Never mind. What's up, Astrid?" I diverted.

"Okay... Hey, check out my Nadders! I finally got them flying in perfect formation!" Right on cue, Astrid's Nadders flew overhead, everything perfectly in sync. 

"Oh, wow, yeah. That-that's great." Hiccup was faking his enthusiasm, and really wasn't trying that hard to hide it.

"Hiccup..." I turned around and gestured for Astrid to leave us. With an understanding widening of her eyes, she hopped on Stormfly and took off.

"Hiccup, now it's your turn to talk to me." He sighed and turned to look at me.

"I-I've just been thinking."

"Ah, something new for you," I joked. He looked at me with a lowered brow, and I held my hands up in defeat, allowing him to continue. 

"You know, Stormfly has other Nadders, Hookfang has a whole herd of Monstrous Nightmares, and Toothless has... Toothless has no one." A sympathetic pang struck my heart, and I reached out to take his hand again.

"He has you," I pointed out, "and he looks pretty happy, if you ask me." I gestured my head over to Toothless, who was rolling around on his back in the grass, playing with his own paws.

"You know what I mean. You said it yourself."

"Hiccup, Toothless will be fine." I reached out and was about to kiss his cheek, when Stormfly squawked again, drawing our attention back to Astrid.

"I almost forgot! Hiccup, your father and Gobber were looking for you. They wanna see you in the Great Hall. They looked serious."

"Yeah, great. Happy Bork Week to me," Hiccup deadpanned. She too, took off again, and we looked at each other before hopping on Toothless and Shriek and heading off toward the Great Hall. I wanted to wait outside, but Hiccup refused to let go of my hand, so I was forced to follow him inside.

A few people were gathered around the fire pit in the center, including Chief Stoick, Gobber, and Spitelout. They were all murmuring to each other, until we walked in. They turned and looked at us with grim, serious expressions on their faces.

"Okay... this is weird..."

"Hiccup, come forward." Chief Stoick's voice was booming and authoritative scaring me into stepping back and waiting in the shadows. Nervously, Hiccup stepped forward and swallowed as his father loomed over him. "And hold out your hands." He did as told for a second, but quickly drew them behind his back, clearly scared and curious about what exactly was going on.

"Uh, Dad, Gobber, other scary-looking Vikings. I'd just like to say, in my own defense, that I cannot control Snotlout or the twins twenty four hours a day."

"This isn't about those jokers, Hiccup," Gobber assured him. "Hiccup, it's something really good." Chief Stoick sighed and glared at Gobber for breaking the intensity, before deciding to explain.

"Now then... Hiccup, as you know, Bork Week has begun; the first one since we made peace with the dragons. So it has been decided, that from this moment forward, all things dragon related- including Bork's life's work- will be entrusted to you, and the academy." My eyes went wide as a smile broke out on my face. This was a _huge_ step for Hiccup, and one that I knew had to be important to him. Gobber pulled out a chest from underneath the table and set it down.

"Reign, come here," he whispered. Carefully, I stepped forward and stood by his side as Gobber opened it up.

"This is where the Book of Dragons started. Everything he ever wrote on the subject is in these notes." He used his real hand to pull out the bundles of journals and pieces of paper and set them down in front of us. "Personal thoughts, feelings, fears. Even some delicious recipes."

"Whoa..." Hiccup removed one of the scrolls from the bundle and looked at it in awe for a moment, before setting it back down. "I-I don't know what to say. Thank you, Dad. This is-"

"Son, this is a big part of our history. You, and Reign, and the dragons are a big part of our future." I stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"What do I have to do with any of this?" I muttered.

"It's now up to you to take care of both." Gobber put the notes back in the chest and reached out to hand it to Hiccup, but he seemed regretful to let it go, because Hiccup couldn't manage to pry it from his hands. "Gobber," the chief warned. "Gobber!"

"Right." He let go of the chest, causing Hiccup to fall back slightly. "They're yours now..." Hiccup smiled proudly, and the two of us took the chest back to his house to start reading the notes. 

Night had now fallen, but Hiccup and I weren't planning on giving up at this point. We were knee-deep into Bork's notes, and learning so much about the dragon species we knew, and about ones we didn't even know existed. But it was a strain on my eyes to read under the light of just one candle, and as soon as I leaned my head against Hiccup's shoulder, I could feel my eyelids starting to shut.

"Whoa." With a protesting groan, I opened my eyes and looked at the page Hiccup was reading. "Toothless, look at all of this, bud. It's amazing." Toothless purred, before nodding and settling back down to sleep.

"Oh, me too, bud," I sighed. "Me, too." Hiccup reached over to set down the papers and pick up the smallest journal to begin flipping through it.

"These are his personal notes. Everything he observed about dragons is right here." He flipped to the next page and made a face. I took one look at the papers and snapped my hand over my eyes, laughing awkwardly. "Along with some... rather interesting drawings of his neighbors." He slammed the book shut and put it aside. "Can't unsee that."

But as the book fell, it opened to another page, one that we hadn't seen before that was at the very end of the book. Beside it was a strange piece of paper, glued to the back cover of the book as though it were...

Sure enough, I picked up the journal and pulled back the paper, revealing some more, folded up notes. I started to read them, and my eyes went wide at the information that was written down.

"This... is all on the Night Fury!" Hiccup leaned over to look at the notes as I flipped through them. "It's all about you, bud." Toothless opened his eyes and took a glance at Hiccup and I. 

"Bork didn't put any of this in the Book of Dragons. 'My studies lead me to conclude that an entire exists, teeming with mysterious Night Furies. I call this land the Isle of Night.' An island... filled with Night Furies!" Toothless finally got up from where he was sleeping.

"Toothless, we have to find that island." He nudged the notes from my hands and purred for attention from the two of us. I giggled and scratched his chin, while Hiccup pet the top of his head. "If we do... we find your family." With a final purr, Toothless went back over to his stone and heated it up before curling up and going to sleep. Watching Toothless get warm and curl up caused me to yawn, feeling the exhaustion wash over me again. "Ugh, I guess I have to get home now." Mentally, I was standing up, but apparently, I was just slumping closer to the floor in reality.

"Uh, Reign?"

"Mm-hmm?" Hiccup stood and moved aside the blanket on his bed. 

"You can sleep up here, if you want. I don't mind taking the floor if you can't make it home." I was too exhausted to protest, so I hopped up and climbed under the blanket, allowing myself to finally fall asleep as Hiccup blew out the candle and muttered a 'good night.'

"So, let me get this straight: to find this island, we have to find Bork's cave?" Snotlout shouted as loud as possible. Hiccup and I had gathered up the others, and were now heading out to where Bork's cave was marked on the map, in order to find the was to the Isle of Night.

"It's his last known place of residence," Fishlegs informed him. 

"Who would live in a cave?"

"Who wouldn't?"

"There must be something in there about the Isle of Night and where we can find it."

"Bork's notes said his cave was cut into the mountains right above Odin's shield." There was a small opening in the rock formation in front of us.

"Right there! That must be it!" I pointed out, pushing Shriek to try and get her closer. Everyone landed and looked down into the darkness.

"Um, so, wait. So how do we know what we're looking for?" Astrid shook her head at Tuffnut and his ignorance.

"It's a cave! Look for a big hole in the side of a mountain."

"Hole. Check."

"Mountain. On it." I sighed and leaned down against my dragon.

"You know, we don't have to bring them every time," I grunted, looking over at Hiccup. 

A sudden, loud noise caused us all to jump and cover our ears. The twins popped up from where they had been searching, each head peering from either side of the rock. Everyone turned their attention to Snotlout as he and Hookfang lumbered over to us.

"What in the world was _that_?" Fishlegs asked, hovering close to Snotlout. 

"That is a Changewing call, my friend." My eyes went wide as I sat up straight. If that call reached any actual Changewings, they were going to come this way. And we had just dealt with some not too long ago, I really didn't need to try and chase off any more. "I'm surprised you didn't know that."

"I would've if it sounded like one," Fishlegs shot back. " _This_ is a Changewing."

"Oh, gods, no..." I mumbled, shaking my head as Fishlegs emitted a loud, frantic, slightly terrifying scream. Snotlout stuttered and scoffed, trying to find a way to save himself. 

"Bet you can't do a Thunderdrum."

"At least challenge me." I shook my head and propped myself up against my elbows. They were going to summon every single dragon in the archipelago, at this rate. That was just going to create more headaches for us, and impede our search for the map to the Isle of Night. 

Fishlegs cleared his throat, then started to growl and scream loudly, causing all of us to cover his eardrums. We all started shouting at him to stop, but he was too concerned with one-upping Snotlout to listen to us.

"Okay, okay, _enough,_ Fishlegs." Hiccup, thankfully, finally got him to stop. "That's good." With that, Hiccup patted the top of Toothless' head, and they led the rest of us through a passage. In front of us was some sort of large cleavage in the rocks, creating a gap between us and the other side. "Hey, I found an opening." I steered my dragon around the other side of Hiccup to get a better look.

"That Bork was a dweeb," Snotlout insulted. "But boy, he could climb like a mountain goat." We approached the edge of our side, when a loud roar stopped us in our tracks. Annoyed, Hiccup whipped around to glare at Fishlegs. 

"Fishlegs, I thought we agreed to ease up on the dragon calls."

"Actually, that wasn't me." My heart skipped a beat. "Mine's far more authentic."

All of a sudden, a large, bellowing Thunderdrum flew around the corner, heading straight for us. I turned and readied Shriek to calm them. I _knew_ this would happen, something bad always happens when Snotlout's ego starts to get out of control.

"Wanna tell that to him?" Astrid and Stormfly hovered, getting ready to go.

"Head for the cave!" We all quickly followed behind Hiccup, trying to escape the Thunderdrum before we decided to try and calm it. Avoiding confrontation would be ideal, but it might not be an option if this thing was aggressive.

"Wait, what cave?" I looked along the mountainside and grew confused. It was completely sealed, not even some sort of large crack that would have tricked us into thinking it was a cave.

"We just saw it! There was a hole!"

"Yeah. And now the hole's gone." The Thunderdrum swooped over our heads, just nearly missing Hiccup and Toothless.

"Snotlout, Ruff, and Tuff, you guys look for the cave opening. We'll lure the Thunderdrum away." Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs and I took off, going after the large and loud dragon to chase them away.

"Fishlegs, Thunderdrum call!" I hadn't really tried working on one, so it was a safer bet to ask Fishlegs to do it, rather than attempting and failing to grab the Thunderdrum's attention.

"I wish you'd make up your mind!" He started clearing his throat excessively, costing us time.

" _Fishlegs!"_ Hiccup snapped. Fishlegs let out that same, low scream, and the Thunderdrum turned itself around to fly toward us. Fishlegs screamed and pushed Meatlug to go faster so that the Thunderdrum couldn't catch him. With Fishlegs dealing with the Thunderdrum, Hiccup, Astrid, and I were able to land and asses the current situation. Hiccup and Astrid looked back at the wall to try and see if they could find the cave, while my attention was averted by screams from nearby.

"Hiccup!" I pointed to Snotlout being dangled by a Changewing, Hookfang having abandoned him.

"Go see what you can find," Astrid urged. "We'll keep this guy busy."

"What about Snotlout?" Astrid dashed off and started shouting at the twins.

"I've got the Thunderdrum!" I took off after Fishlegs to help him out. It took out a line of rock spires in its path, refusing to give up its pursuit of the boy and his Gronkle. I managed to get ahead of them and flew up to a high point on the cliff. Fishlegs and Meatlug crashed against the cliff, the Thunderdrum still barreling toward them.

_Come on, Reign! Now or never, now or never!_

I cleared my throat, and let out a loud, gravely scream, imitating the call of the Thunderdrum, which caught its attention. It changed its path to come up and chase Shriek and I.

"Yeah, that's right, follow us," I muttered, looking back every now and then to make sure the Thunderdrum was still following us. "Shriek, can you get him to go away?" She only roared in response, and I shook my head. "You're a dragon, you can't speak English. Why did I expect you to respond?" 

We quickly turned around and flew around the cave, and the Thunderdrum emitted a loud roar to try and stop us. I covered my ears to try and keep myself from getting hurt, while at the same time trying to steer Shriek to get the Thunderdrum away from the others. But before I could, it roared again, and caused the rocks above the cave to collapse and block the way.

"Hiccup's trapped!"

"I'm in a tough spot here myself!" Snotlout cried, voice cracking and warbling.

"I know you think our plan didn't work, but believe me, this Changewing is playing right into our hands." I shook my head at the twins and their laziness, then tried to focus back on getting Hiccup and Toothless out. 

"There's no way we can do anything without bringing the cave down, Reign!" I turned around to look at Astrid.

"I can't just leave him in there!" 

"We have bigger problems! We've cornered the Thunderdrum." With another look back at the cave, I gave in and turned around to help them keep it at bay. While Fishlegs and Astrid could fire at it, I had Shriek give little roars to confuse it, seeing as how they were the same kind of dragon. But my mind was focused on Hiccup in the cave, trying to think of some way to get them out.

"Somebody call for backup?"

My heart jumped as I turned my head, but the beat slowed when Hiccup and Toothless flew up beside the three of us.

"Hiccup! You made it!"

" _Please_ don't ask me how, because I have no idea." I shrugged, and my mind was finally able to focus on dealing with the Thunderdrum.

"We've got this. Go help Snotlout." He nodded, and he and Toothless flew toward Snotlout and the Changewing, while the three of us continued to fire at the Thunderdrum. I could hear Snotlout screaming as Hookfang dove underneath him to rescue him as he fell.

"Reign, Astrid, Fishlegs!" We all turned to look at Hiccup. "Let's go." I nodded and had Shriek send out a boom in the opposite direction we were traveling to throw him off, then caught up with Hiccup, Snotlout, and the twins.

"I still can't believe you guys survived that cave-in!" I marveled. Hiccup and I had flown a decent bit in front of the others, looking back at them now and then to make sure they were okay.

"Neither can I. It was all Toothless, he... he sent out this weird sound, and it bounced back towards us and somehow, he used it to find his way out." Fishlegs caught up to us as I contemplated what that could have been.

"I don't get it. How do you use sound to guide you?" Now the others were all flying alongside us.

"I do it all the time," Snotlout announced. "Whenever I hear your voice, I go the other way."

"So did you find anything?"

"Only a map... to the Isle of Night."

"Nice! When do we leave?" Astrid asked.

"First thing in the morning. By this time tomorrow, bud, you are going to be knee-deep in Night Furies." I raised and eyebrow and looked at Hiccup.

"Maybe pick different wording next time."

That night, I couldn't sleep, up tossing and turning. My birthday was only a few hours away at this point, and I couldn't stop thinking about my family. I still barely knew anything, and it being Bork Week and all, I couldn't keep my mind off of them.

With a sigh, I sat up and got out of bed, quietly sneaking down the stairs and out of the house so that I wouldn't wake anyone up, and carefully closed the door behind me. Hiccup would probably still be up by now, and hopefully, he'd be able to listen while he planned out how tomorrow was going to go, or help ease my mind. I followed the familiar path to his house, to find him climbing up onto Toothless, looking like they were ready to leave.

"Hiccup?" He jumped and turned to face me.

"Wha- Reign! Hey..." I crossed my arms and stared him down.

"What are you two doing?"

"Oh, uh... we're just, uh, going for a late-night ride." I leaned slightly to the side, making sure he knew I saw his supplies.

"With your satchel, full of things?" He stuttered awkwardly and looked around. "Stop lying, Hiccup."

"Oh... kay. We're going to the Isle of Night."

"Without everyone else?"

"Bork's notes... they said that Night Furies don't do well with other dragons, which means the others couldn't come. Figured we should go now so we don't have to explain." I felt slightly hurt.

"Without me? You'd be gone on my birthday..." He shook his head and scooted forward slightly.

"You are gonna be the death of me. Come on." I smiled and hopped up, deciding to leave my sword behind in case it made me seem threatening. Plus, Hiccup wanted to leave now. "Well, this is it, Toothless. You're finally gonna see you're not alone." I sighed as Hiccup adjusted his foot to open Toothless' tail, and the three of us took off. "Next stop, the Isle of Night."

"Reign? Reign, get up."

I jumped up from my sleep, and having forgot I was on a dragon, tried to stand. Of course, all that did was cause me to start to fall, and I began to panic.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hiccup reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me back up into an upright position. "You okay?" I nodded and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"Just forgot where I was, that's all."

"Well, look, we're here."

I looked down below us to see an island with a rocky shore, surrounded by lush trees and grass, It was a beautiful, plentiful island, the perfect place for Night Furies to be living. Hiccup landed Toothless on the ground, and he put the map away. Toothless seemed a bit on edge, growling as though there were something hostile here.

"Relax, bud. Trust me, if this map is right, you're gonna like what we find here." Toothless eagerly took a jump forward, then started running deeper into the island. But the further we progressed, the more ominous the landscape became. There was a point to jump down, and it looked like that was the place the Night Furies would be. Hiccup took a deep breath, preparing for what we might find. "Are you ready?" Toothless purred. "Okay." Hiccup cupped his hands around his mouth and let out the Night Fury call he'd been working on.

We waited for a few seconds, looking around cautiously, when a similar call came from down below. Bright smiles took over Hiccup and my faces as we realized that this really was it. There _were_ , in fact, other Night Furies on this island.

"I can't believe it! Did you hear that?" Toothless let out a little sound, and the Night Fury responded again, before a dark, dragon-like figure appeared from behind the rocks. "Bork was right." Hiccup and I slid off of Toothless and looked at him with proud eyes. "Go get 'em, Toothless." 

Toothless jumped down and looked over at the Night Fury with enthusiasm, but hesitated, looking back at us.

"I-It's okay," Hiccup assured him. "Go, go. We're right behind you." With that reassurance, Toothless inched his way forward, Hiccup and I following close behind. But as soon as we got to the point where the Night Fury had been, it was gone. The three of us looked around, and Toothless called out again, the response now further away. Hiccup and I stopped in our tracks and looked at each other with suspicious glances.

"Something's not right... Toothless! Come back!" He turned around, but couldn't even take a step before ropes ensnared his legs, causing him to fall.

"Toothless! No!" Hiccup tried to run to him, but a large man ran up behind him and pinned him down, and I felt a pair of violent, strong arms pull my hands tight against my back.

"Let go of me!" As I struggled, I looked around at our captors, and as soon as I realized who they were, I sighed. 

_Outcasts..._

And sure enough, out of the shadows stepped Alvin himself, looking down at Hiccup and I with a smug expression.

"Alvin..." 

A couple of his soldiers wheeled over the fake Night Fury they had used to trick us, all of them seemingly so overwhelming proud of themselves for capturing us.

"Amazingly realistic, wouldn't you say, Hiccup?" he taunted. Toothless thrashed and growled at the men who were trying to keep him at bay.

"Let go of him!" Hiccup managed to pick himself up enough to look at Alvin. "What do you want?"

"I want me own dragon trainer. And by the looks of it, I've got 'im. And 'is little assistant, too."

"I'm not going to train your dragons, Alvin."

"Oh, ho, ho, I think you will. And once you 'ave, I'll use 'em to destroy Berk. Take them!" Hiccup and I did our best to struggle against the men, but they were too strong, even for me.

"I don't understand. How did you do this?" He simply chuckled, and the men started pushing us toward a boat. Toothless was chained up and restrained, while Savage kicked Hiccup onto the boat and aggressively threw me down. I was shocked as Savage stepped up onto the boat, revealing Mildew and that sheep he's always with standing behind him, a menacing smirk on his face.

"Mildew? What are _you_ doing here?"

"Aw, look at'cha." He jumped down onto the boat. "The brightest boy and the strongest girl on the island, and yet, there you are, trapped by a silly old man and his sheep."

"How could you do this?"

" _You_ did it, Hiccup. _You_ believed the Bork notes, _you_ followed the map we drew, _you_ walked right into our trap. All for the love of a dragon," he mocked. "Maybe you'll think twice next time about where you place your loyalties." Alvin cackled and pushed Mildew aside.

"There won't be a next time. Raise the sails! We're headed home... to Outcast Island!"


	20. (Hiccup)

I jumped as a Deadly Nadder slammed its head against its cage, all while Savage pushed me through the rows of dragon pens. Alvin hadn't explained where I was going, but from the moment we touched down on shore, I'd been separated from Toothless and Reign, and I couldn't stop worrying about them.

"Where is my dragon, Alvin? Where's Toothless, and Reign?" I demanded.

"You'll see them soon enough, don't you worry." The menacing tone of his voice convinced me otherwise.

"You know, I have to admit, luring me and Toothless to the Isle of Night, building a fake Night Fury... not bad." Alvin cackled at my words.

"'Not bad...' Says the one-legged boy in manacles," he taunted.

"But turning Mildew into an Outcast? Using him against us? Come on, Alvin. That's low-hanging fruit, even for you." I looked over at him, trying to tell whether or not he would take the bait. But instead, Savage just started laughing, as though I'd made some sort of hilarious joke, causing Alvin to reach back and hit him, in order to correct him.

"No one thinks you're funny, boy," he discouraged. "Now, keep moving." He pushed me yet again into a circle of dragon cages, loud screeches echoing off of the walls. I

looked over to my left to see two Outcasts holding out spears in front of a Whispering Death, who was tied down and thrashing against the restraints. It dug underground to make a tunnel, then shot up right beneath the Outcasts' feet, launching them into the air and roaring at them. They really weren't bright enough to pick up on the pattern here...

"You know it's gonna keep doing that, right?" I asked Alvin. "It is a Whispering Death."

I was caught off-guard by a sudden shove from behind me. Trying to catch my balance, I took a few steps, landing me right in front of the pen of a Scauldron. It drank water from a trough it had been given, then whipped around with an angry look in its eyes. I gasped as it shot out water at another Outcast, sending him flying back.

"A Scauldron... Impressive. You _might_ wanna cut back its water." I hated that I was helping them, but if it got me closer to getting to Toothless and Reign, I would do it.

"Write that down," I heard Alvin mutter to Savage as the Scauldron roared again. Two Outcasts raced past me and entered one of the cages that appeared to be empty. They looked around in confusion, clearly not understanding what was going on.

"It's escaped again!" one of them proclaimed. 

"Actually, no, it's right behind you. Changewing." Right then, the Changewing took off its camouflage and spat a tiny amount of acid from its mouth, causing everyone to duck. Thankfully, it just ended up hitting the bars, causing them to sizzle. "Wow... You guys really don't have a handle on these dragons, do you?" Alvin abruptly grabbed my shoulders.

"Well, that's why you're 'ere! Welcome to your new job, Hiccup!" He turned me back around and started to push me further through the pens.

"Uh, job? As inviting as that sounds, I have to pass." I needed to get Reign and Toothless out of here and home to Berk.

"Oh, Hiccup, _Hiccup_... Why do you always have to make things so difficult?"

"That's not the first time I've been asked that question."

He steered me toward a specific pen, and I expected to have to deal with some other sort of dragon- maybe a Thunderdrum or a Zippleback- but instead, a black dragon was suspended from a bunch of chains and ropes, head hung low. My heart dropped as I looked over the scene, eyes widening.

"Toothless!" He opened his eyes and looked up at me, and as soon as he seemed to come to, he started to fight and thrash. "Hang-hang in there, bud. I'll get you out!"

"He's not going anywhere, neither are you. You _will_ help me train these dragons."

"And if I don't...?" I was afraid of the answer.

"Well, then they're no good to me, none of 'em! Especially yours. Not to mention, your friend'll never leave." 

_I had to come up with some sort of plan..._

 _"_ Take 'im to 'is cell." Alvin waved his hand and Savage and walked away. 

"Can I get you anything?" Savage asked as he escorted me to my cell for the night. "Food? A cozy blanket? Some warm yak milk?" That made it apparent that he was taunting me, and he opened the cell door, shoving me in and slamming it shut. "Heh, heh. Yak milk." I kept my back turned as he walked away, trying to keep myself from having some sort of outburst.

"Hiccup?"

My head snapped to the corner of the cell, and I saw a flash of fire sticking out among the shadows. She didn't look angry, or scared, just determined. She wasn't shaking, she wasn't crying, she was stone-faced. Carefully, I made my way over and sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry I got us into this." She shook her head, not meeting my eyes.

"We both fell for it. I should have known there was something up." She sighed and leaned back against the rock. "Best birthday ever," she deadpanned.

"Really, I'm sorry. I mean, I had all this stuff planned, and now..."

"Hiccup." I looked up to see her jade eyes holding a piercing stare, trying her best to silence me. "That really shouldn't be our biggest concern. We need to worry about getting Toothless and leaving this place before something bad happens." I sighed.

"I know. But I can't think of anything yet. Nothing's coming to me." I felt something thump against my shoulder, and when I looked over, I saw Reign leaning down on it.

"Then we should try and get some sleep, at least an hour or two."

She was right. I at least needed to refresh myself a little bit, in order to think straight.

I leaned my head down and rested mine on her's, closing my eyes to get some rest.

Reign kept a careful watch as I did my best to pick the lock on the cell. I could feel things starting to click, when three shadows on the wall started to grow, and I was forced to stop as Alvin, Savage, and Mildew rounded the corner.

"Alvin, I gave you what you wanted, we had a deal!" Mildew protested as Savage pushed him and his sheep toward a cell.

"I didn't like that deal, so I changed it," Alvin shrugged. Reign stood up and the two of us glanced at each other, then Savage looked in our direction and let out a mock-gasp.

"Oh, I believe you three know each other," he lilted. "Don't get too chummy." Savage shoved him into the cell across from ours. "Mildew's hours are numbered, much like you and the Night Fury." Alvin stepped into Mildew's cell with a menacing stance, and snatched the sheep from Mildew's hands without a second thought.

"No! What are you doing with me Fungus?"

"Preparing your final meal. It's lamb." He slammed the door shut, leaving Mildew to grope at the air after him.

"Fungus! No!" Mildew began to sob, and Reign and I looked at each other, clearly both a little uncomfortable.

"Berkians. Still as dumb as the day I left."

"What have I done...?" 

I looked on at Mildew's cell, starting to feel some sympathy for him. We'd both been tricked by Alvin, and now it was costing us beloved companions. I couldn't just let this happen, I had to do something.

"Hiccup, no." I looked down at Reign to see her shooting me a death glare.

"Reign, come on." She shook her head and looked down at the ground, before moving her gaze back up with a defeated sigh.

"Let's just try and get out of here, first. Then we'll worry about helping other people." 

I realized I'd have to meet her at the halfway point, and started to look around for some other method of escape. I spotted a pile of rocks in the corner, and decided to try and start chipping away at the rock on the ground. Shaking her head, Reign leaned up against the wall and watched as I spent all of my energy banging one rock against another.

"Really, this is so hard to watch," Mildew chimed in after a few minutes.

"What now?" I snapped, barely turning around.

"I just thought Stoick raised a smarter boy than this. And you'll never save your dragon by sitting in this cell, digging in the dirt. You need to go get him soon." My frustration with him started to grow.

"And how would you suggest I do that?"

"By giving Alvin what he wants." I narrowed my eyes and looked over at Reign, who shrugged.

"It's risky, but you might have to take that chance. I mean, I really don't see any other way for us to get out, other than trying to sneak out, but picking the lock proved to be a bad idea." She removed herself from the wall and stood next to me. "If you don't want to do it, we'll find some other way."

She looked up at me with those wide jade bowls, and I knew we were really out of options. This was the best idea, and maybe it would give her time to escape.

"I have to try." She hesitated a moment before nodding.

"Okay. I'm with you."

"Guard, guard, I can't take it, please!" I shouted.

"Nice acting," Reign muttered as the guard came over, looming over us.

"I'll tell Alvin whatever he wants to know. Just let me out of here!"

I did my best to keep my balance as the guard unlocked the cell, thankful he didn't look down before he did. As soon as the door was open, I swung my metal leg out from behind my back and struck him, knocking him back against Mildew's cell. He stumbled and struck it with a great amount of force, but it wasn't enough to knock him out, and he got up with a dark chuckle.

"That worked a little better in my mind." Reign suddenly stepped out in front of me, ready to take a swing at him if he tried to attack me, but before he could even move from against the grate, Mildew pulled him back with his cane with such force that it knocked the guard out. The key slid from his belt, and I rushed to pick it up, impressed with what Mildew had just done.

"Wow... thanks." I looked back at the cell to see Reign carefully making her way around the guard, taking care that she didn't wake him. As soon as she was right behind me, the two of us took off.

"Wait! Take me with ya," Mildew begged.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No. I know how to get around this island." Reign crossed her arms. 

"So do I. What's your point?"

"I can help you two. _Please_. Let me make it up to you." She and I glanced at each other with suspicion, but we both knew we'd feel bad if we just left him here. With a frustrated grunt, I made my way over to Mildew's cell and let him out.

"Don't make me regret this, Mildew," I warned him as the door opened. He followed closely behind the two of us, careful not to make a sound as we crept our way up out of the cells. From the outside, I could hear dragons roaring and screeching from all directions. We quickly dashed out the door and hid behind a couple of rocks, taking a second to collect ourselves. "Okay, what's the quickest way to get to Toothless?"

"Through that lava field." He pointed his cane down at it, and without second thought, I agreed.

"Let's go." I started to run, when Mildew stuck that cane out in front of me to block my way.

"Wait! You do realize those are wild dragons down there?"

"Yup." I immediately resumed my step. Reign was a few cautious paces behind me, and Mildew was in the very back. All of the dragons were fighting with each other, both of their own species and others. It was a dangerous path to take, but I needed to get to Toothless as fast as possible. "Well, come on, then. Let's go." Reign and I hopped over the rock we were hiding behind, but Mildew hesitated.

"Uh, let's not."

"I know what I'm doing, Mildew," I assured him. "Just stay behind me."

"Oh, perfect. A ninety pound boy and a little girl are me human shield." Reign whipped around to glare at Mildew, silencing his complaints.

Slowly, we started to inch our way through the field, trying our best not to disturb the wild dragons. They all stared at us as we walked right down the center of the rocks, but generally left us alone. That was, until we were right in the clear, and a Nadder swooped down to block our way. It roared loudly to try to intimidate us, but I was doing my best to stand my ground against us. Reign threw Mildew's cane to the ground, causing him to shudder.

"No, Mildew. The last thing you want to do is threaten him," she hissed.

"Me? Threaten him?"

"We-We have to show him he can trust us." Carefully, I approached the restless Nadder and inched my way around, using a gentle tone. "It's okay. We're not here to hurt you." I was able to get close enough to rest my hand on one of its legs, calming the jumpy dragon. "There you go."

"Very impressive." Mildew's voice was weak. As soon as he moved, the Nadder became defensive again and screeched at him. It circled halfway around him, cocking its head at another person, and while Reign remained calm, Mildew starting trembling.

"No, no, he's just getting to know you. They can sense fear, so... be relaxed." Mildew tried his best to relax his stiff posture and act as though being circled by a dragon were just an everyday occurrence, but he was still unbelievably stiff.

"This is relaxed," he said through clenched teeth. The Nadder affectionately nudged him, causing Mildew to flinch.

"See?" I chuckled, shaking my head. "He wants to be friends. Isn't that nice?" The old man jumped away as the Nadder squawked. 

"I've got plenty of friends."

"I highly doubt that," Reign shot back. "We're gonna need a way to get past all those guards at the dragon pit. And I think we just found it."

"What?" Chattering, the Nadder gave Mildew a big kiss, causing him to shudder.

"You earned that," Reign laughed. "Come on. We have to get this moving if we want to get to Toothless." I nodded and approached the Nadder again, resting my hand between his nostrils.

"Remember, dragon training begins and ends with trust. Both of yours." I reached out and grabbed Mildew's wrist, guiding his hand to where mine was on the Nadder and replacing it. The Nadder almost immediately relaxed, and it seemed to rub off on Mildew. "Now, climb on."

"What?" I demonstrated by swinging myself up onto the large dragon, then took Reign's hand and helped her up. "Okay, uh..." He looked over the Nadder for a moment before slinging the upper half of his body over it and flailing his legs. "Okay... again..." With an impressive amount of force, Mildew jumped up onto the Nadder and sat down behind Reign.

"Wow. Mildew on a dragon. This is gonna take some getting used to." The Nadder started to thrash impatiently a little, and I felt Reign's arms tightly wrap around my waist, trying to stay on.

"Eh, why's it doing that? What's happening?"

"Okay, okay, it's okay. He's just never had people on him before." I spit into one of my hands and started to rub it onto the dragon's back. "A-A-A dragon's hide is dry. The moisture from your hands will soothe him."

After a second of hesitation, Mildew began to spit into his hand wildly, causing Reign to flinch and lean closer to me in disgust. The Nadder spaced its feet out and spread its wings, and on my command, it took off. Mildew cried out and grabbed onto Reign's waist, practically throwing her off.

"Uh, you, uh... hey, okay." She looked up and glared at me. "Hiccup!"

"Uh, you know, there's a lot of dragon here, Mildew. W-Why don't you grab some of that?"

"H-Huh? Oh, uh, I'm fine."

"Let go of me!" Reign snapped, practically throwing Mildew off of her. The cloud cover made it a little difficult to see, but the dragon pit was too large to miss.

"That's where they have Toothless." I directed the Nadder to fly down into the hole of the dragon pit, keeping an eye out as we made our way through the rows of cages. Dragons screeched to try and get our attention, and set them free, but I had to ignore them for now, and focus on getting Toothless out of here. His cage came into view at the end of the rows, and I instructed the dragon to land. Hurriedly, Reign and I jumped down and raced over to the bars, with Mildew limping slowly from behind us.

My heart dropped as I looked around. The cage was completely barren, save for the restraints that had been keeping him there. There was no evidence of whether he had broken out, or Alvin had taken him for his own purposes, but Mildew drew his own conclusion.

"Toothless is gone..."

"Alvin must've moved him."

Suddenly, from behind us, the cages all swung open, letting out the Changewing, the Scauldron, and the Whispering Death. The Nadder we had flown in on circled us, trying to offer protection.

"Let's see what you can do with some real wild dragons, Hiccup." I looked up to see Alvin standing beside the lever that opened the cages, smirking menacingly at us. The wild dragons roared and got menacingly close. 

"Mildew, whatever happens in the next minute, do exactly what I tell you."

"Hiccup, _please_ don't be stupid," Reign begged, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. The four of us jumped out of the way as the Changewing shot acid in our direction.

"E-Eh, I'm all ears." The Changewing shot at us again, leaving him vulnerable and allowing us to jump back up on the Nadder. The Whispering Death roared and bit at us a couple of times, trying to catch us in his jaws. Alvin cackled as it dug under the ground to go through tunnels. "At least that one's gone." 

"Well, uh, not for long, actually." The ground underneath us rumbled and rattled as the ground beneath us upturned, showing us the Whispering Death's path. "Changewings shoot acid, Scauldrons fire boiling water, and Whispering Deaths hunt from _underground_."

The raised dirt got closer to us, I moved the Nadder to jump out of the way, then started to run. The exit wasn't blocked, and Toothless wasn't here, so we needed to leave now. The Scauldron and Whispering Death were right behind us, so I pulled the Nadder up and caused them to crash. 

"Come on, Hiccup! Go! Go!" A faint circle of light came into view, and we flew out of it, escaping from that nightmare. Now, we had to focus on finding Toothless and getting out of here. I landed the Nadder on a nearby patch of rocky land to allow us all to catch our breath.

"Well, you know your dragons. I'll give you that."

"Hiccup!" 

Relief flooded through me as a large, blue Thunderdrum landed in front of us and my dad hopped off, running toward us with a look on his face as though he thought he would never see us again. Which, in all honest, was a likely possibility from his side of things. "Thank Thor you're all right!" Reign and I jumped down from the Nadder as our other friends landed.

"I am, but Toothless is in trouble."

"And Mildew is on the back of your dragon." Reign jumped as Tuffnut hissed those words right next to her face, not realizing he had been near her.

"We know." Tuff paused to ponder what Reign had just said.

"Weird." Suddenly, Gobber yanked Mildew off of the Nadder and held his hand- which had the mace attachment on it- over his head.

"I should run you through right now!"

"Whoa, whoa, Gobber! He helped us escape." I turned to my father. "Dad, I owe Mildew my life." Everyone stared at us in disbelief, so Reign stepped up and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"As do I."

"Getting weirder."

"I'll explain later. Right now, I have to get to Toothless."

"Or, bring him to you," Reign suggested, shrugging. I got what she was trying to say, and stepped forward, out into the open. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I let out the Night Fury call, and hoped that it could reach Toothless, no matter how far away he was. Reign reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it as we waited for something, any form of a response.

And then, a roar sounded in the distance, and we all ran to our dragons. I tried to get the Nadder to go as fast as it could to follow the place where the roaring was coming from. Despite the dark ground that we were flying over, I could faintly make out the figure of a Night Fury crying out.

"There he is!" The Nadder dove down and brought us all in front of Toothless, and the moment we landed, I jumped down and ran toward him. I couldn't contain how happy I was as he tackled me to the ground and started licking me, causing me to laugh. "Toothless! Are you okay, bud?" He purred at me. "Oh, I am so sorry, Toothless. This was all my fault."

Suddenly, Toothless whipped his head around and growled, his dilated pupils narrowing into slits.

"Whoa. What's the matter, bud?" I turned to look in the direction he was focused on to see a large figure looming over the cliff side, shouting at us.

"Hey there, boy! You weren't gonna leave before we finished our business, were you?" Reign moved over to stand beside Toothless and I, her fists clenched in anger as her fiery hair fell in front of her face. "That's what I would expect from Stoick's little runt."

"Oh, boy..."

"Hiccup!" Neither of us were listening to anyone, and as the anger grew more intense, I hopped up onto Toothless and charged right toward Alvin.

"Do it, boy! I'm right here!" he taunted. Alvin cackled as we got closer, and started swinging his axe around. "Now!"

Suddenly, Toothless and I were thrown to the ground as I was tied to him. The Outcasts cheered and started running for us, and I struggled against the bonds as I tried to figure out what to do. They got closer, almost to the point of encircling us, and I started to panic, when a few of the Outcasts were suddenly blasted to the ground. I managed to lift my head up and see that the other dragons had banded together to get rid of our attempted attackers. Stormfly and Hookfang lifted us up and brought us back to our friends, and Gobber, Snotlout, and my dad cut us free. As soon as I was up, I turned to Reign, Astrid, and Fishlegs, confused.

"What happened?"

"The dragons saved you on their own."

"Looks like they took their training to a whole new level."

"We can talk later. Right now, we need to get out of here." My dad pointed toward the large group of Outcasts that were running toward us, shouting and waving their weapons wildly. All of us jumped up on our dragons and took off, blasting at a few of the Outcasts to keep them from attacking us. 

Gobber had hopped up on the Nadder, and I looked back to see Mildew dangling from his tail, screaming his head off.

"Mildew!"

"Oh, for the love of Thor. Mildew, get back up here!" One of his hands slipped from the Nadder's tail. I shook my head, but focused on maneuvering through the group of Outcasts and getting out of their line of fire. In a moment, I looked back to check on Reign, and saw from the corner of my eye, Mildew slip off of the Nadder and fall through the trees.

"Mildew!" I turned Toothless around and had him dive down as fast as he could as the Outcasts picked him up and held his arms behind his back. He mouthed something, but I couldn't quite make it out. Before we could get to him, a couple of the Outcasts started shooting at us, causing Toothless to rear up.

"Hiccup, we have to go..." Reign muttered sadly.

"She's right, son. We can't help him now." I stared down at the scene for a moment, before turning around and flying away after my dad. Reign leaned her head against my back and rested one of her hands on mine. 

"It'll be okay, Hiccup."

I stared down at the map to the 'Isle of Night' in disappointment, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my chest.

"I'm sorry this map wasn't the real thing, bud," I sighed as Toothless purred. With one final look at it, I tossed it into the fire and walked over to the Book of Dragons. "But, hey, there's nothing wrong with being one of a kind."

The door suddenly swung open to reveal Reign, staring at me with a hand on her hip.

"Would you come on?" she groaned. I raised an eyebrow at her, asking her to explain. "Bork Week? The parade?"

"Right." I patted Toothless on the neck and raced over to her, her annoyed expression now being replaced with a smile. She turned to walk out, but I needed to say something before we did. "Hey." She turned around and looked at me with big eyes, causing my heart to flutter. "I-I'm really sorry I ruined your birthday." She shook her head and stepped closer to me.

"You gave me the most exciting birthday of my life," she chuckled, trying to put a bright side on it. "And I absolutely love the gift." She reached back and tapped the shield I had made for her. Another smile crossed her face, and she squeezed my hand before turning around. "Come on, we should get going."

"Hold on."

A sudden bravery took over me as she turned around, and I grabbed her hand as I pressed her lips against mine, smiling at her as the two of us pulled away. Her eyes bounced around and her cheeks turned red, before taking my hand and leading me out of the house. We jumped up onto Toothless and Shriek, and looked at the others, who I didn't know had been waiting outside.

"Come on, gang." 

_A family isn't just something you're born into. It's also the friends who stood with you- the ones who fought by your side. You know that you'll be there for them, and they'll be there for you. For the battles that are yet to come._


	21. (Reign)

The light of torches danced across the dark cave walls, barely revealing the identity of the figures just on the edge of the light. The ropes were starting to itch against my wrists while I attempted to make my undoing of them subtle behind my back. My heart raced against my chest as I looked over at the other figure tied up beside me, his head hanging low.

"Tell us about the dragons, boy," a low and gravely voice demanded from the shadows. "Tell us how you train them."

"I won't talk," Fishlegs stated, his voice surprisingly stern. I continued to work on my ropes while he stalled with the interrogators. "You can't make me."

"Oh, I think we can."

One by one, the torches were blown out, eventually leaving us in total darkness. I started to panic and struggle against the ropes faster, knowing that the dark was one of Fishlegs' weaknesses. If I didn't move fast and get us out of here, he'd spill everything.

"Hello?" I could hear his breathing getting close to a level of hyperventilation. "Is anybody there?" 

The first knot came undone, and the rope fell to the floor silently.

"You can't- you can't leave me in here!" 

I started to work on the knot keeping my arms bound to the back of the chair, hoping my free legs would help me if someone tried to attack me.

"Okay! Okay, Hiccup is the leader of the Berk Dragon Academy!"

_Dang it..._ I started to untie faster.

"He rides a Night Fury named Toothless. And there's Reign! She's got a temper, but it's really useful in fights. She rides a Thunderdrum named Shriek that has a seriously powerful sonic boom. Th-then there's Astrid! She's mean, but in a nice way!"

The rope was starting to loosen as Fishlegs spilled literally everything about all of us.

"Her dragon is a Deadly Nadder- shoots spines, her and Shriek love chicken." He chuckled at the end of his sentence. "Snotlout rides a Monstrous Nightmare. We're not actually sure who's more monstrous: him or the dragon. And then there's the twins. They share a Zippleback... actually, they fight over it."

Just as the rope around my arms fell away, there was the sound of a blast building up, and Toothless' purple plasma lit the torches once again. The group looked at Fishlegs, all with either angry or disappointed expressions, forcing him to talk once again.

"What? You know I hate the dark!" he defended. Toothless gave the boy an unamused look before padding back to his rider.

"Great. Fishlegs, more like Guppy Legs," Tuffnut insulted. "Jeez..."

"Fishlegs, you can't give in. Alvin will do a lot more than turn out the light to get you to talk. He had Reign and I locked in a dungeon, ready to be executed. Toothless was chained and muzzled for days." He took a deep breath as his face started to contort in order to calm himself. "You need to stick with what we discussed: your name, where you live, and nothing else."

"All right, I'll work on it."

"Mean? I'm not mean," Astrid muttered as most of the group turned to leave the cave. 

"It's okay, Astrid. I _like_ mean girls." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at Snotlout's advances, and they weren't even directed towards me. I stood up from my chair and caught up with Hiccup, falling in step beside him.

"So what's the point of tying me up again?" I questioned, sighing as I rubbed my red wrists. I was likely going to have a slight rope burn because of this, and if no one offered a good explanation, I wasn't going to be happy.

"You're the most likely person aside from myself Alvin would capture," he explained. "If you were tied up, Fishlegs couldn't rely on you suddenly jumping out of the shadows to save him."

"Still," I sighed. "Seems a bit cruel. I have a rope burn now, because you've made me do this with literally everyone." 

His expression changed into a sympathetic smile as I touched my wrists again and looked at the deep red marks that were starting to just become a part of them, at this point. 

"Sorry, I just want you to be prepared, too."

I shook my head and motioned for Toothless to stop walking, which blocked Hiccup's path. I moved to stand in front of him and leaned against the Night Fury, crossing my arms and glaring the young Viking straight in his green eyes.

"I know you want everyone to be safe, but I'm beginning to question your methods." He copied my body language as I explained. "You do this thing where you get so obsessed with something that it takes up all your time. First, it was killing a dragon, then it was training a dragon, and now, it's Alvin. It's like you don't know how to slow down, and it really worries me sometimes," I confessed. His expression shifted, and as his arms dropped to his side, he came to lean against Toothless right next to me.

"I didn't know... I don't want to..." He was trying to find a way to finish his sentence, but I could tell what he was trying to get at.

"I know, but that's because my issue is talking about things." I shook my head as I looked down, before slouching slightly to lean my head against Hiccup's shoulder. I had grown slightly, and was now a little taller than him. Though I'm sure that wouldn't last long. 

"What are we gonna do?"

I chuckled. "Not a clue. But that's okay for now. We'll figure it out when the time comes."

My heart raced as I threw my sword up to block the axe from coming down on my head. I mean, I knew Astrid would never actually hurt me, but there was still the inevitable adrenaline of having a weapon brought far too close to your face. As quickly as she brought the axe down, I threw her back and kicked her square in her chest, nearly knocking the wind out of her and throwing her to the ground. She tried to get up, but as soon as she propped herself up on her elbows, I put my foot down on her chest to keep her from moving.

"I think Reign wins," Snotlout guessed sarcastically. I smiled and helped Astrid up as the sun started to peek through the clouds.

"Wow, you've gotten really tough." I snorted.

"Don't get me started. I think it's the inner Berserker starting to come out." Astrid's expression changed as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, don't be worried about it. You're not like him."

Ever since I'd learned that deranged Dagur was my brother, I'd started to become worried that I'd end up like him. I couldn't remember my people very well, but I didn't doubt that they were all like Dagur now that he was their chief. And maybe it just ran in the blood to snap one day.

"Hiccup! Reign's all yours."

I looked up to see Hiccup entering the Academy with Toothless, but as he got closer, I noticed his grim expression. Hiccup and I were supposed to go on a flight together, but something told me it would have to wait.

"What's wrong?" I asked as he got closer.

"My dad... said we have to ground all dragons until further notice." 

I raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"He said he didn't want to risk anything, and that all dragons had to remain grounded until further notice."

My suspicion rose. Hiccup sounded like he was giving in to what his father was saying, which was so unlike him.

"And you agreed? Just like that?" I questioned.

"What other choice did I have? He's the chief, who also happens to be my incredibly over-protective father."

"Well, we have to get him to change his mind!" I nearly jumped at the growl in Astrid's voice.

"Stoick the Vast? Um, good luck with that."

"So, what am I supposed to do with Hookfang if he can't fly?" The Monstrous Nightmare roared at his rider and ignited his tail. "You know what happens when his inner warrior is caged up?" 

As if in response, Hookfang smacked his owner with his tail, sending him skidding across the ground. The only thing that stopped him was Astrid's foot as he slammed her foot on his face.

" _That_ is what happens."

"We should've caged his 'inner warrior' a long time ago," Tuffnut chuckled. "That was awesome."

"Yeah."

"Look, I know this is going to be hard. But I'll keep working on my dad, and hopefully he'll change his mind."

"And what if he doesn't?"

I didn't want to lower Hiccup's hopes, but we had to think about every possibility. His eyes went to the floor for a few moments before he looked back up at everyone.

"I... don't know."

I sighed and stepped forward, then placed a hand on his arm to lead him out of the Academy.

"Come on, let's get going."

As soon as we were out of the Academy, I moved my hand down and slipped it into his before offering it a little squeeze and smiling at him. Astrid had followed us, since our training session had been cut short, but she remained silent as I talked to him.

"Look on the bright side," I tried to reason, "it's not like this is forever. It's just until we can get the Outcasts to surrender or... defeat Alvin."

"But who knows how long that will take?"

"It'll take as long as it takes, but it _will_ happen."

"How do you know that?" I stopped and turned to face him.

"Because we're Berk. I know that sounds stupid, but has there ever been an enemy we haven't been able to defeat? You dad is an excellent leader, and I know he's going to get Alvin to give up."

I should have known Astrid would have taken the chance to break the tense atmosphere.

"Wow, I forgot what I long walk it was from the Academy." I caught Hiccup smile. "Sure would be nice to be flying home."

"Why thank you, Astrid, for that observation, because I clearly don't have enough on my plate right now."

As we stopped, Toothless started to run circles around Hiccup and let out that little roar.

"What's with him?"

"It's sunset." I nodded.

"Right. I forgot you guys always take a lap around the island when it gets dark." Hiccup pet his dragon on the top of his head.

"He loves it." 

Toothless roared again and looked between us and the setting sun, before sitting and staring out at the sky. How do you explain to a dragon that they can't do something they've been doing since they were a little lizard?

"Poor Toothless. No family, no night-flying... what's left for him, really?" 

I shot Astrid a glare. How could she say that?

"Oh... kay. Why don't I just leave the three of you alone?"

"Yeah, that's... probably a good idea."

Once she was gone, I leaned forward and gave Hiccup a hug. The two of us looked over at Toothless as he stared out at the horizon, not understanding that he wouldn't get his sunset flight.

"I'm gonna go back home now, okay? Please don't do anything stupid."

Instead of responding with words, he just sighed, and I could feel a sinking sensation in my chest as I walked away from him and into the house. Astrid was sitting at the dining table, looking at the edge of her axe as though there were something wrong with it.

"What's your deal?" I demanded as I closed the door behind me.

"What do you mean?" 

"That was pretty awful, what you said to Hiccup back there. You should apologize."

She set her axe down on the table and set her head in one of her hands.

"Sorry, I'm just upset about losing the ability to ride dragons."

"Did you not hear what I said back there? We'll get that back, we just need to give it time. You can't just go taking your frustration out on people who can't do anything about it."

"Hiccup _could_ do something about it?"

I scoffed and placed my hands on my hips.

"Just don't do something like that again. He doesn't need one more thing to worry about."

Having finished my scolding, I sat down at the table and set my head in my hands.

"He'll figure it out. I know he will..."

"It sounds more like you're trying to convince yourself than tell anyone else." I shook my head.

"I'm just worried he's going to stress himself out."

The sun had set, and I decided to go out and feed Shriek.

"Hey, where are the chicken legs?" I asked, standing up.

"They're still out there, just outside their pens. That way, they can't eat them when they're not supposed to." 

I chuckled and made my way outside, smiling at my Thunderdrum and Astrid's Nadder as they perked up. They always knew what time it was and when what happened, so when they practically started dancing around their pens, I wasn't surprised. I handed each of them two legs of chicken, then turned around to head back inside. But before I could, Stormfly started stomping her feet and making noise.

"What is it, Stormfly?"

A high-pitched whir echoed in the silence of the night, and a black blur shot past us in the sky.

"It's a dragon! And someone's riding it." 

I stopped. A black blur? And that sound... there was only one dragon that made that sound.

"Wait a minute. That's a Night Fury."

I sighed and hopped onto Shriek. I hesitated for a moment before we took off. If I got caught, both Hiccup and I would get in serious trouble. But if I went up there and got him, he would at least have someone to defend him if they ran into danger...

"I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?" I asked my Thunderdrum before pushing her to take off. Once we found Hiccup, I had her follow at a safe distance for now so that I could observe without getting hit and knocked off my dragon by their tricks. "All right, Hiccup. What are you up to?"

Shriek darted back and forth right on their tail, but we were quickly starting to lose them. I had to keep up.

"Come on... come on."

I could have sworn I saw him glance back at me for a second, and I lowered my eyes. Was he trying to outrun me? Is he serious?

Somehow, he and Toothless managed to slip away, and I had Shriek land on the axe of one of our ignited sea stacks. I looked around and tried to spot them, but they were gone.

"Ugh."

I was just about to turn around, when I noticed a shadow with a striking piece of red land behind another sea stack. With a smirk on my face, Shriek flew over toward them just as Hiccup thought he was in the clear.

"Nice flying, bud. I think we lost her."

"Think again, Hiccup."

He stiffened and Shriek and I landed behind him, and it took him a moment to turn around. I crossed my arms and set a glare on my face as he looked at me.

"Reign! We were just... talking about you." I relaxed slightly.

"So, I guess this is the part where I ask you if your father changed his mind, and you tell me he didn't, and you're going behind his back. Again." He tried to sour his expression.

"Actually, no. This is the part where I tell you my dad is wrong."

"So... he knows."

"I didn't say that." I scoffed and shook my head at him. "Look, you were there on Outcast Island, just like I was. You know what Alvin is capable of."

That wasn't the point.

"So you were just gonna fly around at night, all by yourself, and say nothing?"

"That... was my plan." My glare got more intense. "I didn't want to get anyone else in trouble. I was... trying to do the right thing. Sort of."

My anger started to melt away as I realized it stemmed from concern. He was alive, he was okay, and we were talking about this. And I couldn't believe I was going to say what I was about to say.

"We both know what the right thing is, Hiccup. But if we're going to ride dragons behind your father's back, we _all_ need to ride dragons behind your father's back."

"Reign, you don't have to do this."

"Well, I'm not letting you do it on your own. That's not what..." I moved Shriek to stand next to Toothless and placed my hand on his. "That's not the kind of girlfriend I want to be. So we're going to come up with something. Together."

He smiled at me and squeezed my hand.

"Dragon Flight Club," Snotlout repeated. "I like it. What is it?"

Hiccup and I had stayed up most of last night trying to come up with something, and finally, we'd decided on Dragon Flight Club. It was just going to be our group of Dragon Riders, and we would go on patrol and fly around at night. But, of course, we'd come up with a catch to make sure no one else, particularly the chief- found out about it.

"It's a secret dragon flying society. We train at night, under the cover of darkness-"

"-sharpening our skills against possible attacks from Alvin," Hiccup finished.

"But remember, it's secret. Nobody can know."

"As far as you're concerned, it doesn't exist. There _is_ no Dragon Flight Club." Snotlout turned to Hookfang and held his arms out.

"What do you think?"

Hookfang's response was to blast his rider into a nearby cart.

"He's in!" I turned to Hiccup and shrugged.

"Guess we better move on to the twins. But let's... be a little more careful about what we say around them."

Hiccup nodded, and I followed him into the twins' house. I nearly jumped at the sight of them hanging upside-down, mistaking them for some strange breed of dragon we'd never seen before.

"Uh, hey guys," I greeted awkwardly, not sure how to respond to this situation. "We, uh, we need to talk to you about something." They didn't respond, but their expectant blinking seemed to say they were listening. "We're starting this thing called Dragon Flight Club. It's basically our group of Dragon Riders, and we're gonna train at night, because it's dark and no one will see us flying."

"So listen, this is very, _very_ important. The first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is that there is no Dragon Flight Club."

"Okay, so, wait a minute." Tuff dropped down from the beam he and his sister were hanging from. "Is there a Dragon Flight Club?" 

"Yes." I stopped as Ruffnut jumped down after her brother. "There is a Dragon Flight Club."

"But... he just said there is no Dragon Flight Club."

"No. The first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is that there is no Dragon Flight Club. Get it?"

"Absolutely... not."

"Yeah. I think I need to lie down."

"Me, too. Why don't you guys come back when you've made up your mind, and stop saying 'is' so much."

Hiccup and I turned to each other with looks of frustration on our faces before we walked out and headed to explain everything to Fishlegs. We'd figured he'd be the hardest to convince, and I'd already talked to Astrid about it last night. He was the last member we needed on board, and we were going to try our best to convince him to join.

"Um, I'm not sure this is a good idea. Besides, I hate having to wake her," Fishlegs stuttered as he pet the top of Meatlug's head. "She's so beautiful when she sleeps." Meatlug let out a loud fart to contrast what Fishlegs had just said, but he didn't seem to care. Hiccup hopped down from the windowsill he had been sitting on.

"Fishlegs, this is a defining moment in the history of the Berk Dragon Training Academy. Hundreds of years from now, when they're building statues of us in the middle of town, they're going to hearken back to the courage it took for us to stand up for what we know is right, regardless of the consequences."

I raised an eyebrow at Hiccup. What was he on about? This made no sense, not to mention talking about a statue of him being built wasn't exactly something he would think about. 

"So... I get a statue?" Fishlegs was excited now. But clearly, that wasn't the point Hiccup was trying to make, as he sighed and let his arms drop to his side.

"Yes, Fishlegs, you get a statue." 

"I'm in," he declared with a smile.

"Great," I interjected, before Hiccup could say anything else stupid. "Our first meeting is tonight. Be at the Academy by sunset with your dragon."

Hiccup and I walked out of Fishlegs' house, and the moment the door closed, I turned to him.

"What was with all that statue and glory business?" I questioned. 

"I don't know. I guess I got lost in... some wild fantasy. Why?"

"It was just very not you. I didn't expect something like that to come out of your mouth."

"Sorry?" I laughed.

"It's not something you apologize for." I took a breath to still my laughter and smiled at him. "I'll see you tonight."

Everyone was lined up with their dragons in front of Hiccup and I as the sun was setting. Somehow, none of us had gotten caught sneaking out of our homes, and with our dragons, no less. If anyone was suspicious, they hadn't bothered to say anything.

"Okay, Dragon Flight Club members. You know why you're here." Tuffnut scoffed.

"Speak for yourself."

"We need to be ready for riders on any type of dragon: from a Typhoomerang, to a Scauldron, to a Changewing, even a Whispering Death. So, Reign and I have put together some training exercises."

"Can we go already?" Snotlout demanded as Hookfang roared.

"Let's mount up. First stop, Changewing Island."

I climbed up onto Shriek and pet her side reassuringly. I could tell she knew something was up, maybe even that something suspicious was happening, but she was going along with it anyways.

"It'll be okay, girl. If those Changewings try to hurt anyone, we're leavning right away." I looked over at the boy on his Night Fury. "Right, Hiccup?"

"Exactly." 

He tightened the strap for his peg leg and pat Toothless twice to get him to move. We all looked around cautiously as we exited the Academy, and the second the coast was clear, we took off around the side of the island we knew no one would be on. My heart rate stilled as Berk started to fade into the horizon behind us, but my stomach still churned at the thought that Alvin and his Outcasts could be out here, just waiting for us. But I did my best to hide it, and by the time we reached the home of the Changewings, no one had noticed something was going on.

"There it is!" Hiccup called back to everyone else. "Changewing Island!"

"Oh, yeah! Stones of Good Fortune." I shook my head. We had explained to the twins that those 'stones' were actually Changewing eggs, but they didn't seem to want to believe us. "A lifetime of good luck. I can't wait to get my hands on one of those."

"Tuffnut, we've been over this. Those are not Stones of Good Fortune, those are dragon eggs."

"Leave them alone, please," Fishlegs begged, clearly recalling what happened last time. "I really don't want to re-visit the Changewing debacle."

We landed on the island and made sure to keep a safe distance from the Changewings and their daily routines. The large dragons darted between the trees and changed their colors to stalk the boars they were following, in order to catch them without being spotted.

"Changewings hunt like wolves," Hiccup explained. "One dragon lures a single boar from the herd-"

"-then the other Changewings surround it," Fishlegs finished.

I watched as a triangle of Changewings closed in on a single boar. It's eyes were wide, and it let out a small, pathetic squeal, begging for its life. Every instinct I had was telling me to look away, should the Changewings decide to pounce right in front of us, but if Hiccup was going to launch a training exercise from this, I needed to be ready. Closing my eyes could put me behind.

"Hey! Don't we know that boar?" Tuffnut shouted, possibly a little too loud.

"Yeah, we do. That's Bjorn Boar!"

"Are they serious?" Astrid sighed.

"You leave Bjorn alone!"

"Clearly, they are."

The Changewings heard Ruff and Tuff's shouts, and one by one, perked their heads up and looked in our direction. Their beady eyes glared right at us, and the twins reared back as one of them roared.

"Uh, you're on your own, Bjorn!"

We all pulled back our dragons and made them fly away just as the Changewings spat their sickly, green acid in our direction. A glob flew right past my arm and nearly hit me, causing Shriek to list back and forth slightly.

"Whoa, whoa, girl!"

"Keep your distance!" Hiccup shouted back to us. "Their acid is only effective at close range."

"Not very comforting when you're on the slowest dragon!"

"There's too many of them," Snotlout complained. "And they come out of nowhere!"

I looked up just in time to see two Changewings heading straight for Hiccup and Toothless. Their heads were reeling back, and I could see spheres rising in their throats as they got closer.

"Hiccup!"

He maneuvered Toothless out of the way of the blasts of acid, and I managed to catch up to them and keep at a steady pace as we escaped. I glanced at him for a moment, then looked around at the trees and sky. That's when an idea hit me.

"Wait a minute. If they don't have anything to camouflage against-"

"-then we take away their advantage!" Hiccup finished.

Everyone pulled their dragons up and climbed closer and closer to the stars. I could still hear the Changewings heavily flapping their wings, and it was starting to get closer. Quickly, I turned Shriek around and had her send out a sonic boom that sent one of the Changewings tumbling backwards, then Hiccup dove under us and shot at the other Changewings trying to pursue us. We were finally all in the clear, and with our heart beats starting to return to normal, we headed home under the cover of night.

"Okay, so _that_ could've gone better," Hiccup muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Everyone, go home. We'll meet again tomorrow night."

Hiccup tried to walk away, but before he could, I grabbed his collar and yanked him back.

"Ow. Reign, ow!"

"That was a disaster," I hissed as soon as the others were out of earshot. "What are we supposed to do?"

He stuttered for a moment, before finding the words. "I don't know, Reign. The twins caused the problem today."

"Which we should have seen coming," I added. "Look, I think we just need to be more careful, maybe start with something less dangerous."

He looked down at the ground, his green eyes bouncing for a few seconds, before a smile crossed his face, and he looked up at me.

"I've got it."

It took me a few seconds, but I caught on to his idea.

"Hiccup, no."

"Much like the rings inside a tree, the scorch mark can tell you the age, and thus, the size of the Typhoomerang in question." 

I shook my head and stood behind the others as they crouched in front of the Typhoomerang scorch marks. Despite my protests, Hiccup decided our training tonight would be on Typhoomerangs. But, sensing the danger in tracking these dragons, I'd decided to stand behind everyone else and keep watch. Not to mention the fact that we were still on Berk, where we could easily be caught.

"They're still warm." 

"Which means it wasn't here too long ago," Astrid concluded. 

"And, if you look at the mark, you can tell which way it came from and which way it was headed."

"I know which way it's headed without all that stupid stuff," Snotlout declared, standing up.

"Oh, really?" Astrid challenged. "Where's it going?"

"It's not 'going'. It's coming, at us, right now!"

We all looked into the sky to see a large Typhoomerang heading straight for us, roaring before it shot out a huge cloud of fire.

"Uh, anything else we needed to learn?" I approached Hiccup at the end of his question and grabbed onto his arm.

"Nope!" Tuffnut answered hastily.

"We're good."

All of us jumped on our dragons and took off, hoping we had enough of a head start to escape the angry dragon. That was the only thing we were concerned about, which unfortunately, steered us straight into a different kind of trouble.

"Uh, hey Hiccup?"

"Yeah, Tuffnut?"

"When did your dad join Dragon Flight Club?"

Hiccup's eyes went wide as he looked from me, back to Tuffnut. His expression was souring as he realized Tuffnut must have asked that for a reason.

"He didn't."

"Oh, weird, 'cuz he's right there."

Quickly, Hiccup and I stole glances down, and sure enough, a large figure sat atop a blue Thunderdrum. It let out a roar that caused me to jump, and I flashed my eyes back to Hiccup, panicked.

"What the-oh! Quick, evasive cloud maneuvers." 

Everyone yanked on the reigns of their dragons to guide them up into the cloud cover. I couldn't see a foot in front of my face while we were up there, but I knew it was safer than risking down below, where all Chief Stoick had to do was look up in order to see us. 

"We have to stay up here in the clouds until we're right above town," Hiccup shouted from somewhere in the void.

"What are you two doing?" Astrid questioned. 

"We can't see in the clouds!" I heard Tuffnut yell below me. 

"Yeah, it's too cloudy."

"Hence the name 'clouds.'" I muttered, shaking my head.

"Uh, you guys? If your heads are out of the clouds, my dad can see you."

"Uh, not going to disagree with you there."

I heard a familiar roar; one like Shriek's, but louder. I looked down to try and see the chief, check on how close he was to us, but the cover was too thick, and I couldn't catch the source of the noise.

"Oh... all right, guys. Split up, go home, and _please_ keep the dragons out of sight." 

Following Hiccup's instruction, I quickly yanked on the saddle to get Shriek to go higher into the cloud cover. They were now mere wispy tendrils beneath me, and I could vaguely see the others branch off in their own directions to head toward home. I so desperately wanted to relax, high above the world, but my eyes kept bouncing around, hoping Chief Stoick wouldn’t suddenly pop up from below the cloud cover. Berk soon came into view, and the moment Shriek touch landed, I hopped off and raced up into bed. I tried my best to fall asleep, but found it difficult with a hammering heart and adrenaline.

One would have thought, given the close call the club encountered the night before, meetings would have ceased for the time being. But, the next night, Hiccup summoned Astrid- who came back not long after me after the Chief Stoick scare- and I to the Academy, to talk about what happened. Apparently, Fishlegs was caught, and the chief and Gobber tried to interrogate him. Thankfully, the training paid off, and Fishlegs didn't cave.

"He put the screws to me," Fishlegs recalled. "I-I thought I was gonna crack. Especially when the lights went out." He almost seemed to laugh at himself that time. "But-But I held firm because I know the first rule of Dragon Flight Club, is there is no Dragon Flight Club."

"Oh, great, not that again," Tuffnut groaned from the background.

"You did great, Fishlegs," Hiccup encouraged.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" Ruffnut questioned. My hopes were set on going back to bed and closing the book on this risky idea.

"Nothing."

I fought back a smile and nearly started toward the exit.

"That doesn't sound fun at all."

"Look, my dad is onto us. It's important that we lay low until this blows over. We need to be invisible."

In one of the most beautiful moments of irony, Snotlout suddenly descended from the sky on a fully-ignited Hookfang, screaming at us to be heard over the thunderous beat of his dragon's wings.

"Hey, guys!" he shouted as Hookfang landed. 

"Snotlout, what did I tell you?" Hiccup chastised, slapping his forehead with his palm. "No dragons."

"Yeah! Even I knew that." 

Hiccup sighed and chose to move on.

"What's so important, anyway?"

"Let's just say I may have saved this entire island."

Astrid and I glanced at each other skeptically, but chose to hear out whatever story he'd decided to tell.

"Alvin and the Outcasts are attacking as we speak."

Immediately, everyone tensed up, and I felt my hand reach for my sword. This was _far_ more serious than Snotlout's casual tone and relaxed posture implied- not that he was known for taking anything seriously. 

"Alvin..."

Hiccup's shoulders slumped in defeat, and more of reality started to kick in for me. This was what Hiccup had been trying so hard to prevent and prepare for, and now that the moment was here, we all were caught off-guard and wildly unprepared. Now, more than ever, he needed someone to help boost his confidence. And that's just part of what girlfriends do.

"So, what do we do now?"

He looked back at me, as though confused I'd made no means to protest at first, but quickly, he melted back into the same old, scheming Hiccup.

"All right, gang. This is what we've been training for. But before we do anything, we have to get my dad," he explained. "Follow me. I'll go in there and wake him up, you all wait outside in case he needs extra persuasion."

I smirked and nodded in his direction before vaulting myself up onto Shriek and following quickly behind. There was clattering and muffled yells from inside the hut, but thankfully, Hiccup and his father emerged from inside together.

"Hey, Chief," Fishlegs greeted awkwardly. Chief Stoick looked over all of us, before sighing and getting onto Thornado.

"Okay, gang, fall into formation. Dad, you fly in the front."

We all agreed and took to the skies, attempting to catch the Outcasts before they reached our shores. The ships soon came into view beneath the dense cover of the clouds, perfectly in that circular formation they always formed. 

"I'm going to draw their first round of fire," the chief announced. "While they're reloading, you attack. But not before." He made sure to glance at his son when saying that.

We watched as Chief Stoick swooped down to nearly level with the ships, then began narrowly dodging large boulders catapulted in his direction, and tiny arrows attempting to pierce the delicate leather of Thornado's wings. He dove just onto the surface of the water and splashed it up a bit onto the faces of the Outcasts, causing the boats to rock, and caught an impending boulder with his own bare hands.

"Now, Hiccup!"

On cue, the rest of the Dragon Riders dove downward, firing at the bottoms of the ships in hopes of stirring them before igniting. Shriek emitted a powerful blast that shook one boat so hard, it nearly capsized, and I affectionately patted her back following the matter.

Then, suddenly, one Outcast per ship opened a cargo hold, and a large pack of red dragons with distinct, leafy, ornate antennae came shooting out.

"Changewings!" Hiccup cried, alerting to group of the danger we were about to face. Rather than coming straight for us, they began a path toward our island. 

"We can't let them get to Berk!" Astrid pointed out, alerting those who weren't aware of what just happened.

"If they go into town, they'll tear Berk apart, and we won't be able to see them."

Our group quickly turned around and began a pursuit of the deadly dragons. Snotlout and Hookfang managed to get beneath them and shoot out a ball of fire to stop them in their tracks. The now frantic Changewings attempted to go around, but we started firing at them with everything we had, and eventually, they got turned around and gave up their trip to Berk.

"Reign, you and the others herd them towards Changewing Island," Hiccup ordered. "Make sure they don't head back this way. I'm going to help my dad."

For a moment, I was hesitant to agree and risk something happening to Hiccup, Toothless, Chief Stoick... or all three. But, at the same time, all members of that party proved they could handle themselves, even in a dire situation. It was time to let the past go, and move on. We'd all grown and become stronger, and were capable of handling outselves... even Fishlegs.

"Got it!"

Hiccup rushed back to help his father, and with the flick of my wrist, the remaining Riders formed a 'v' shape around the Changewings, corralling them between all of us and, thankfully, keeping them from escaping. We managed to get them back to their island, and as soon as they all landed among the trees, all of us turned around to head home. 

By the time we got back, the sun was nearly up, and I was in desperate need of sleep. Yawns fought their way out of my mouth as I trotted back toward the Hofferson hut, but before I got the chance to go inside, I watched Hiccup and Toothless land. I would have just left well alone, were it not for the fact Hiccup appeared to be moping. Despite my exhaustion, I chose to approach.

"Hey, Hiccup!"

He appeared caught off-guard when he first turned around, but as soon as he saw it was me, he relaxed into a smile.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, now standing directly face to face with him. That didn't last long, however, as he soon leaned against his trusty Night Fury. 

"I don't know. I just... thought Alvin would've had a better plan than he did. He retreated really quickly, it was suspicious."

I sighed. Here he went again, thinking about the things he couldn't, at the moment, control. Gently, I mimicked his body language, staring straight ahead as I spoke.

"Well, maybe he does," I shrugged. "But what's important is that he didn't get to Berk, and nothing's happening to it today. We'll have to be prepared, but for now, everyone is safe. And I want you to understand that, so please don't let yourself obsess over this."

He offered a tired smile, before leaning his head on my shoulder. We both sighed, and watched the sky paint itself back to life as the sun rose.


	22. (Hiccup)

A gently wind tossed my hair back and forth as we all flew in formation. I saw Astrid look back at Fishlegs, lagging behind the rest of the group for what looked like miles. We'd been trying to keep our speed on the slower side to not leave him behind, but we couldn't keep this up much longer, otherwise we'd miss our window. She grunted in frustration, before all of us rounded the corner, only to find the horizon before us blank. It was just the sea and the sky, no ship in sight.

"We missed it!" Snotlout cried, frustrated. With a sigh, I led the others around and had us land on the top of a sea spire.

"It was headed this way," Reign grunted. "It must've outrun us."

"How does an Outcast ship outrun our dragons?"

As if on cue, Fishlegs and Meatlug sputtered around the corner, landing with an aggressive, ground-shaking thud.

"That's how."

"Whoo! We were really moving, girl!" Fishlegs patted the back of his dragon, seemingly oblivious to what was going on around him. "What did we miss?"

"It's not what you missed, it's what we _all_ missed!"

"Snotlout..." I cautioned. 

"What? I'm just calling it like I see it," he protested. "If we didn't have slow, and really, really slow holding us back, I don't know- maybe we'd actually have a chance to do what we're supposed to be doing?"

"Snotlout, that's not-"

"That's a bit harsh," Reign interjected.

"Guys... he does have a point."

Reign and I exchanged a glance, her eyes sullen. I could tell Fishlegs' statement broke her heart, and I had to admit, it saddened me as well.

"Fishlegs..."

"No, it's no big deal, Hiccup. You guys keep looking." He was trying his best to keep his voice and facial expressions cheery as ever, but I could see the cracks beneath it. "Meatlug and I will circle back and... patrol the cliffs. Sure up the rear!"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely."

She looked back at me again, the cheery smile she usually wore on these sort of missions completely wiped from existence. I could tell she wanted to do something, but deep down, we both knew nothing either of us said could change his mind.

"Okay, um... well, use your dragon call if you spot anything."

"You know I will."

Everyone looked at each other, daring someone to move first. I knew I'd have to be the one, despite not wanting to leave Fishlegs behind. Soon as we took off, Reign moved her dragon right up next to Toothless, and her eyes refused to leave me. I slowly reached a hand out to rest on hers.

"We shouldn't have just left him," she sighed. "He's going to feel unimportant for the rest of his time on this team."

"I knew he'd just keep insisting he was fine, no matter what we said." Her expression shifted slightly, and I picked up on the readable disappointment. "Look, there's only so much I can do as a person."

"Yes, but as Hiccup Haddock, you can do more than your average person. I know you can."

I sighed, choosing to look forward again. She was right, I had to give her that. But when you're risking the safety of your island by waiting for just one person, there are other things you have to take into consideration.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I say we call it a loss for the day and head back to Berk. That ship is either too far away for us to catch now, or on its way back to Outcast Island."

She patted the top of Shriek's head twice to get her to turn back toward home. The others hesitated for a second before following her, leaving Toothless and I to fly behind the rest of the group. Reign had a tremendous amount of empathy, sometimes more than was good for her. But, I could feel the weight she carried on this one. She and Fishlegs had always been close, coming to share a love of dragons. Even before, when she had a fear of them, she and Fishlegs were the sweethearts of the group, and that'd always made them closer. He taught her everything she knew about dragons, and before she'd met Toothless, he helped her with her fear of dragons a little bit.

"Hiccup!"

Toothless suddenly jerked to the left, nearly throwing me off his back to avoid a large sea spire. I got so lost in thought, I'd forgotten I had to try and steer my dragon. He grunted in annoyance and shook his head as I turned to face Reign, who was trying her best to hide her laughter. Her hands pressed harder into the back of her dragon as her body shook with giggles, her eyes darting between me and the horizon.

"Don't think I don't see you laughing at me, Reign," I teased. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She shrugged nonchalantly, not meeting my eyes. "I wasn't laughing, I had a chest spasm, and needed to cough."

"Mmhmm, yeah. Sure..."

I went back to scanning the water as we made our way back home. At any point, the boat could have turned around and headed toward Berk, or been used to create some sort of diversion for a greater threat heading toward my home island. The Outcasts could strike at any moment-- maybe they already struck. Everyone had been on edge, or at least, that's how it felt; all anticipating the next move, waiting to counter or fight back. It wasn't really a way to live, but it's what we had to do for now, to protect Berk.

The sun had begun to set, creating purple, golden, and pink patterns across the cloudy sky. Our dragons circled once before landing on Berk. Fishlegs had returned, and was currently cleaning Meatlug with a wide, elated smile on his face. Quite a change from his attitude earlier. As we disembarked, he started to make his way over to us, causing us all to meet in the middle.

"Did you, uh-- did you find your Outcast ship?" he asked, clearly trying to contain some sort of excitement.

"Do you _see_ an Outcast ship?" Snotlout seethed, following a fit of babbling.

"No, we didn't find them," I clarified.

"Fishlegs!"

All of us turned to see Gobber starting our way, his eyes fixed on the sudden subject of interest. He held a sword in one hand, made of a metal with a strange sort of color. The light bounced off it in a way that almost made it appear a hot white, thin as a blade of grass. I nudged Reign, and when she looked at me curiously, I nodded my head toward it.

"Yeah..." she whispered.

"Do you know what this is?" Gobber insisted.

"No, don't tell me!" Tuffnut interjected.

"Uh.. a sword," his sister answered. Tuff suddenly lunged at Ruff and started to wail on her.

"I said don't tell me!"

We all watched as they fought for a moment, before turning out attentions back to Gobber, reminded that fights were a normal, everyday occurrence for them.

"Not just any sword. Feel it." 

Gobber suddenly tossed it in Fishlegs' direction and he flinched. Before it could strike him and harm him in any sort of way, Astrid reached out and grabbed it.

"I made it out of that strange lava Meatlug left in the shop."

Astrid swung the sword back and forth with ease, before passing it off to Reign. Her green eyes went wide with shock for a second, before she tossed it back and forth between her hands with ease.

"This sword is made from Gronkle lava?" I asked, quite surprised. It looked vastly different from the other swords Gobber had made.

"I prefer to call it Gronkle Iron. I got tired of waiting for it to cool. You know what I always say: pound it while it's hot. Next thing you know, bing, bang, boom! And I've created this little beauty." 

Reign swung the weapon back and forth again, this time alarmingly close to my face. She seemed to be assessing it, analyzing every detail and ease of movement.

"It's pretty, but..." She tapped the blade against her palm a couple times. "...too light. It would never hold up in battle." Reign tossed it back into Gobber's hands, and I took a moment to look at her. Ever since she'd discovered she was a Berserker, she'd changed. Before that, Reign would've protested anything involving physical fights. But now, strategy seemed to be on her mind more often. I couldn't tell whether it was a good or bad thing at the moment...

"Exactly what I thought... until I did this."

He suddenly grabbed onto Snotlout and yanked him closer. Reign tensed as Gobber swung the blade down against Snotlout's own. Shockingly, the Gronkle Iron sword shattered the normal, seemingly sturdier blade.

"Oh."

"Whoa..."

"Cool."

"Awesome."

"Nice swing."

"Is there any left?" Astrid asked, an excited lilt in her voice. "I've been wanting a new dagger."

"New helmets!" the twins cried, bashing their heads together in their normal fashion.

"Ours are pretty banged up." With that, the two of them collapsed onto the ground, out cold. I got a little closer to Gobber, and the sword, trying to get a better look at it. 

"Ah. Yep, it'd go pretty nice on that fancy, new shield of yours." Gobber placed the weapon in my hands.

"Exactly what I was thinking. It could make it stronger and lighter."

"Excuse me," Snotlout piped up. "Why don't you start by making _me_ a new sword?"

"Why don't you start by getting in line?" Gobber shot back. We all turned our heads toward Gobber's smithy, catching a glimpse at the line of people stretching out from the front window. "They whole town has heard about Meatlug's Gronkle Iron, and they all want a piece of the action."

Reign looked back at Fishlegs and Meatlug, then at the line, her head bouncing back and forth a few times. A wide smile cemented itself on Fishlegs' face, and I knew that made Reign feel much better about earlier. But I could still see the guilt lingering behind her own cheery expression. We'd tossed Fishlegs into last place before this, and now, someone else had recognized his worth before his own friends. It wasn't hard to tell that's what she worried about.

"You think he's going to hate us now?" she asked, tossing her necklace back and forth. 

"Reign, he's Fishlegs." I stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He won't even be mad in the first place."

She continued to keep her eyes on him as we all walked away. 

Reign leaned against the wall as I pounded a mallet against my new shield. The whole town practically worshiped Fishlegs and his Gronkle Iron. In one day, he'd already made various weapons and a helmet, and now, I'd put the finishing touches on my shield. The line of townsfolk stretched farther back than either of us could see. She's expressed her joy that Fishlegs was getting the attention he deserved, but I knew there was something else behind it.

"This Gronkle Iron is going to do _wonders_ for my shield," I said to Fishlegs as I picked it up, turning to face him.

"Right? How great is this stuff?" He handed someone else a sword he'd made them.

"So, what kind of rocks did you feed her?" Reign asked, stepping up. Fishlegs hesitated for a second, and I saw a sort of worry cross her face.

"Well.... actually, I can't tell... you." She raised a red eyebrow at him.

"No?" Gobber asked, coming to the front from his forge.

"It's a trade secret." Fishlegs suddenly reached for a mace and held it close to him. "If I told you, I'd have to mace you," he joked, chuckling awkwardly.

Astrid suddenly burst into the smithy and leaned against the door frame, attempting to catch her breath.

"Hiccup, the sentries say they saw another boat. We have to go now."

I only took a second to hesitate and let my eyes go wide, before Reign and I hopped up onto our dragons. I'd expected Fishlegs to follow, but when I looked back before taking off, I saw he'd stayed behind, focusing back on his work making weapons.

"You coming, Fishlegs?"

"I would love to, Hiccup, but as you can see, Meatlug and I are pretty busy." He pointed back at the line of townsfolk, which had gone down slightly, but still remained long.

I shook my head, and turned to glance at Reign for a second, who shrugged. At this point, there wasn't much we could do to get him to come with us. He was convinced he wasn't a valuable asset to our team, and here, he had something people loved him for. With another shake of my head, the three of us took off. We caught up with the others, who were surveying not too far off the island.

"Which way did they say the ship went?" Reign inquired.

"Supposedly, it headed west," she replied.

"We thought we saw something-"

"-but it turned out to just be stupid piece of driftwood."

"How..." I was about to finish my question, but upon just a glance at the twins, I realized it wasn't worth it. "Never mind."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's head west!" Reign urged, tapping Shriek to get her to fly in the right direction. We scanned the seas for quite a while, but never came across a boat. Eventually, around midday, we decided to give up and head back to the Academy to recover.

"Well, that was a complete waste of time," I sighed, approaching the others.

"We doubled back over the same area five times," Astrid complained. 

"Really? That was the same place?" Tuffnut seemed genuinely confused. "It looked so different."

"That's because you were flying upside down, you muttonhead."

"Oh, yeah... Fun, though."

"You know, we needed someone to keep track of our position," Reign sighed.

"Yeah, we did. And some low-speed hovering could've helped over that sea stack."

"I know."

"Oh, come on! You're not talking about _him,_ are you?" Snotlout sneered.

"No, not him!" Tuffnut paused for a second. "Or you? Hey, who are we talking about?"

"I have no idea, but he sounds important, so it definitely can't be you."

"We're talking about Fishlegs," I sighed.

"We're a team. And on a team, everybody has a role to play."

"Reign's right. We're all important." I glanced at her for a moment. It was nice to see some things about her weren't going to change. "When one of us is missing... it's just not the same." Per the usual, Snotlout scoffed.

"This is your fault. You made him quit" He pointed an accusatory finger in my direction. I glanced at the girl on my right, that sense of guilt washing and taking over me. Several looks crossed her face, as though she were attempting to figure out how to gauge the situation.

"Let's... let's go find Fishlegs, try to talk to him. And... let's hope he'll want to come back to the team."

She led the rest of us out of the academy and toward Gobber's smithy, where we knew Fishlegs would still be. A small crowd of Vikings remained gathered around, though now they were shouting and protesting angrily. Reign reached for my hand and squeezed it once as we approached. I could tell she wanted to take the calm approach to this, but before she could speak up, Astrid pushed past us and pointed straight at the blonde Viking.

"There he is! What are we gonna do?"

"I could pound on him until he agrees to come back," Snotlout offered, striking his fist against his opposite palm.

"Or we could just ask him," I suggested, trying to keep the situation from escalating.

"What's wrong with the pounding? I like pounding; I like pound cake, I like measuring my weight in pounds-"

Reign scoffed as I broke free from her grasp and peeked through the crowd, attempting to catch Fishlegs' attention.

"Fishlegs!" I called. When he didn't look up, I ran over to the other side of the crowd and called out again, this time waving my hands in the air and jumping. Though it didn't catch _his_ attention, the crowd seemed to think that was an invitation to starting chanting his name. Gobber approached Fishlegs and muttered something to him, but I couldn't hear it over the crowd. He turned around, and his hand flew to his head, making him look as though he were going to have a panic attack.

"Should we step in?"

Just before I could say anything, Fishlegs turned around and shouted out to the crowd, "hold onto your tunics, folks! You want the Gronkle Iron? You've got the Gronkle Iron." Reign rested her hand in front of her mouth, watching as Fishlegs went back into the smithy.

"He's lost it..." she muttered. Carefully, I rested a hand on her shoulder.

"He's Fishlegs. He's definitely come up with an idea."

And I had full faith in that. At least, until Fishlegs came sprinting out of the smithy, closely following Meatlug, who was in a scattered panic. 

"Oh, boy..."

I watched in shock as a bucket and a pot flew right at Meatlug and attached themselves to her body as she ran. This... was not good.

"Let's go."

Each of us hopped up onto our dragons, and flew up above the village to try and find where Meatlug had run off to. It wasn't hard, we just had to look for the large metal objects appearing as though they could fly. Unfortunately, the objects I spotted were a trio of spears, their points heading straight for Meatlug. I pushed Toothless to fly faster, and get as close to the ground as possible. Soon as we were close enough, Toothless fired blasts at the weapons, causing them to break apart and fall to the ground in charred pieces.

"Nice shot, bud," I praised.

"Hiccup, you have to help Meatlug!" Fishlegs called from below me, rushing after his dragon.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know! She's attracting metal... she's really scared." I looked around until an idea popped into my head.

"Okay! Snotlout, we've gotta herd her away from town."

"On it!" The two of us dove to get closer to Meatlug in an attempt to chase her out of town. "You're all mine, Meaty." Hookfang hovered right next to her, but Fishlegs must have picked up on something I missed when a different form of panic crossed the fleeing dragon's face.

"Wait! Stop! Heel!"

Hookfang came to an abrupt stop, causing Snotlout to launch out of his saddle and fly into a bag of apples in front of a merchant's stand.

"I meant to do that, you know." he grunted as Toothless and I continued to pursue Meatlug. She flew into the forest, thankfully out of harm's way. She did, however, begin knocking down trees, so I pulled Toothless up above the cover in order to safely get to her. That did, however, make it harder to find her. I continued to stare down at the ground for a few more seconds, before determining I needed a new method

"This isn't working. Let's try getting ahead and cutting her off."

Toothless quickly dove down below the canopy the trees made, and thankfully, we pulled up right beside her.

"Here we go, bud. This way!"

Before we could swoop down in front of her, she came to the teetering edge of a cliff, leading to a drop straight into water, from a height that would break your bones if your slipped. 

"Meatlug!" 

As Toothless and I landed, she jumped and turned to face the two of us, her tail bludgeon wagging slightly. Carefully, I dismounted my dragon with my arms outstretched.

"It's me, girl. You remember me: your old pal Hiccup. Nothing to be afraid of. We'll figure this out, but you have to stay still."

My heart began to race as she quickly began to back closer to the edge, a few pebbles beneath her crumbling.

" _NO,_ no, no, no, no. Easy, easy, girl. We're here to help you."

"Hiccup!"

I nearly jumped as I turned around to see Fishlegs running toward us.

"Not now, Fishlegs."

"No, no, no. You don't understand."

"Not now, Fishlegs!" 

"It's metal!" 

Just as it hit me, I felt myself being pulled to the ground, and unwillingly dragged against Meatlug, my metal leg sticking up straight.

"Oh. Gotcha."

I suddenly felt like a doll, flopping to and fro in the hand of a child as Meatlug took off.

"Hey! Where are you guys going?"

"Absolutely no idea!"

The sea beneath us proved a menacing enemy, threatening to snap me in half if I dropped off Meatlug. The sea stacks didn't prove any more comfort as I dangled so close to one, I nearly smacked my head against it. 

Then, like a speedy savior, Fishlegs and Toothless caught up to us. The two of us awkwardly stared at each other for a few moments, as though waiting for the other to give a signal that it was time for a rescue.

"Hey."

"Hey..."

"How's it going?"

"Better than expected." The wind suddenly caused Toothless to lurch, which made Fishlegs' eyes go wide.

"Yeah, so... this might be a bad time, but I wanted to say I'm sorry for leaving you behind the other day." He stuck his hand out.

"Hiccup-"

"I know, I know, you volunteered. But still, I-"

"Hiccup! I'm trying to concentrate here."

"Oh... right, sorry." 

Then, behind him, I saw what we'd been searching for the past few days: that Outcast ship, causally sailing through the calm waters.

"Wait!"

"Seriously. Can we talk about our feelings later?"

"No, look!" I pointed past him in order to draw his attention to the ship behind him. I managed to swing myself around and cling onto Meatlug's leg.

"They're getting ready to fire!"

"I know! I've got an idea. Dive!"

Meatlug began to spin as she plummeted closer to the sea, while Toothless and Fishlegs followed with close composure. Just before she cannonballed into the water, I had Meatlug level herself out and fly as close to the ship as we could get without getting poked by any of the spears sticking out of the side. Just as they were about to fire, the ship listed toward Meatlug, and all their weapons flew from their hands.

"Excellent!" I cried, laughing as we flew away. My joy was shot-lived, however, when I noticed the weapons were _still_ following us. "Whoa, less excellent."

I glanced around, finding myself to be out of options in the middle of the ocean. Thankfully, Fishlegs and Toothless pulled up beneath us, and he reached out to tickle the underbelly of his dragon. Somehow, that worked, and all metals dropped down into the sea. I reached out and managed to wrap my arms around Toothless' tail.

"Hey, good plan. Yay, team!" I shifted myself back into a sitting position, and Fishlegs jumped back onto his dragon. "Ah, much better."

The two of us made our way back to Berk, where I found Reign waiting for the two of us. As soon as Toothless and I landed, she approached with a smile, arms crossed against her stomach.

"I'd assume you solved the problem?"

"Yeah."

"And apologized to Fishlegs?"

"Everything's all fixed, Reign."

She laughed and brushed some hair from her face.

"Good, because we've got to get working on some drills, and we need him." 

I pretended to roll my eyes at her, but jumped back up onto Toothless and followed behind her and Shriek. The two of us found him at Gobber's smithy, having a small conversation with him. The two girls shot down and smiled as she called out to Fishlegs.

"Fishlegs, where have you been? We've been looking all over the island for you! We need you!"

And with a smile on his face, Fishlegs hopped up onto Meatlug and followed behind her.


	23. (Reign)

I leaned against Shriek as I waited to receive orders for tomorrow's mission. Hiccup and I stayed up late last night with Astrid, trying to help her perfect it, and as a result, heaviness now attempted to pull my eyelids shut. I only had to try and pay attention for a few more minutes, then I could go take a nice, long nap.

"Okay, gang, over here," Hiccup summoned. With some reluctance, our other dragon riders gathered around. "Tomorrow's training mission was actually Astrid's idea, so I will let her explain it." 

"Oh, no."

"Aw, man," the others groaned. 

"What?" I watched as her expression fell, clearly becoming discouraged.

"Your training missions are always so hard," Fishlegs whined. 

"They are not," she protested.

"Hand-to-claw combat." Fishlegs held up his left hand, showing off the bandage covering the wound he'd received from Astrid's last training mission. Meatlug lovingly licked the injury, as though apologizing for what she'd been forced to do.

"Spine dodging."

"Hot lava swimming."

"We never did that," Astrid sighed, her expression indicating she wasn't pleased.

"Yeah, but you should've. It's way better than hand-to-claw combat."

"Well, this mission is easy." She gestured one of her hands toward the map. "Dragon Island. You just have to go from this beach on the east side, to this cave on the west side."

"Oh."

"Oh, okay. That's not that bad."

"At night." Everyone groaned in protest. "With no camping gear... and no dragons."

"What? That's crazy! What's the point." Astrid quickly whipped around.

"To work on our stealth skills and our wild dragon defense."

"Astrid's right," I defended. "We all know how strong we are _with_ dragons, but we have to be able to survive and defend ourselves in case we ever get separated from them."

"Trust me, it'll be fun."

Everyone groaned yet again, but with everything explained, they were free to go and spend their day however they wanted. Astrid shook her head as she took the map down and walked away, preparing for tomorrow's flight and mission.

"Hey!" she called, trying to catch my attention. "I'm gonna take Shriek back with me and feed her and Stormfly, okay?"

"Sounds good!"

I hadn't thought that through, however, because I quickly realized she was my form of quick transportation. But, before I could call out and change my mind, the three of them were gone. Sighing, I turned around to face Hiccup and Toothless, the former of whom was looking at me with sympathy.

"Can I bother you for a ride home?" I asked sheepishly. With a chuckle, he mounted Toothless, and extended his hand down to me. Grateful, I took it and jumped up onto the back of the lovable dragon, then rested my hands on his rider's shoulders.

It was somewhere around midnight when we landed on Dragon Island. Most of the group had already complained all the way here, but I knew there were more grievances to come.

"Okay, one of us is going to have to skip the drill and take the dragons to the cave on the other side of the island," Hiccup informed us, holding his shield in one hand and a lantern in the other. "That way, they won't try and help us."

Suddenly, a wild Nadder swooped down and growled at us, spreading its wings out to appear more threatening. Immediately, Stromfly, Shriek, and Toothless herded it out of the way, firing until the dragon got scared and flew away. 

"Just like that." We all stared and watched the Nadder fly away before re-addressing the situation. "Okay, so, who's gonna watch the dragons?"

"I think the obvious choice is-" Tuffnut jumped forward and cut off Fishlegs.

"-me! I volunteer."

"But-But I have more dragon knowledge."

"From a book. But I... I feel them, in here." He placed his hand over his chest, but then started to move it closer to his stomach. "Wait, where is it? In here." On cue, his stomach growled. "Yeah, in my stomach. Besides, I said 'me first'!"

"Oh, I can't believe I'm saying this," Hiccup sighed, "but, uh, Tuffnut is right. Fishlegs, no one can argue with your dragon knowledge. But if Alvin attacks with wild dragons, we need to be able to face them-- anytime, day or night, on our own. Without help."

"Oh, dang it. That makes sense..."

Tuffnut cackled, and all of us made our way over to our dragons to bid them goodbye. I scratched Shiek under her chin and flashed her a smile. Everyone's dragon reluctantly followed Tuffnut, except for Toothless, who nudged Hiccup as he tried to walk away.

"No, no, no, no, Toothless. You have to go with Tuffnut." His dragon looked up at him with big, sad eyes. "Oh, I can't believe I'm saying this either, but... he's the boss."

"That's right! You heard that: bossman! The head honcho. The big... boss... honcho... guy. The honch-boss. Hey, anybody know where this cave is?"

Everyone else halted in their tracks, turning very slowly to glare at Tuffnut.

"Just messing with you. Or... am I?" He cackled again, and I'd finally reached my limit with him.

"Remember, this is about stealth, not speed." I tried my best to keep my voice calm as I brushed off the anger from Tuffnut's joking around. "It doesn't matter how fast you get there. What's important is how you handle wild dragons, if ever you come across one. Understand?" I didn't get any responses. "Okay. Good luck, everyone. I'll see you back at the cave."

I could hear Fishlegs and Hiccup shouting at each other from behind me, but I was too far ahead to be able to hear the exact words they shouted at each other. It didn't take long for me to lose the others in our group, but that didn't matter all that much. I could find the way to that cave on my own. Sure, there was something eerie about the silence, but I wouldn't have to be in it for long. I had to wonder how the others were faring, and to be honest, how long I'd been walking.

It wasn't long before I noticed a plume of smoke off on the horizon. Curious, I moved closer to the edge of the cliff near me, and saw a campfire coming from the trees nearby.

"Are you- campfire? How is this stealthy?"

Carefully, I started to make my way toward the location of the fire. Each step I took, rocks beneath me crumbled, threatening to drop me at any second. By the time I reached it, the fire had reached a peak intensity, shooting smoke high into the night sky. I couldn't take my eyes off of the various weapons, making me question whether or not this camp belonged to one of our own. Of course, if it _were_ to belong to one of us, it had to be...

"Okay, come on out," I called. "Show yourself, Snotlout, and I will go easy on you."

All of a sudden, something flew out of the bushes and tackled me to the ground with an impressive amount of force, nearly knocking the wind out of me. My sword nearly pierced my side, shocking me for a moment. I let my eyes open, and gasped as I looked up at the face above me, which looked equally as horrified when they realized who I was.

"Dagur?" I spat. Of all the people I didn't want to see, he was top on the list. A smile suddenly crossed his face and picked me up, hugging me a little too tight against him.

"Reign! You're alive!" he cried, his voice oddly cheery. 

"Uh, last time I checked..." My eyes darted away from his for a moment, trying to dispel the awkwardness. "So, um, haven't seen you since-"

"-since you and Hiccup saved me from that dragon attack back on Berk!" 

Right... I'd almost forgotten we'd faked fighting Toothless. This didn't bode well for me. 

"You two fought off... a Night Fury."

"Oh, right... yes, the Night Fury attack." 

He drew a sword from his arsenal and began to swing it around.

"I mean, you were all like 'bam'! And then you were all 'Dagur, save yourself'! And I was like 'what? Okay!" and I ran out of here! But you stayed, and then you must've..." His look suddenly soured, causing my heart to leap. "So... what _are_ you doing here?" He pointed his sword at me menacingly, causing me to put my hands in the air and back up.

"What am I doing here?" I mumbled awkwardly, attempting to come up with an answer quick.

"Don't answer that! I know _exactly_ what you're doing here."

"Oh... you do?" My voice trembled.

"Oh yeah. I do. You're here for the same reason I am, Reign. You're here... to hunt dragons!"

_Nope, nope, not even close._

"Okay, you got me. That's what I'm here for. All by myself." Dagur finally lowered his sword, and his facial expression relaxed. He did, however, proceed to grill me and back me against a tree with his questioning.

"What ever happened to that Night Fury, Reign?"

"Oh, yeah, well, just... bad news. Uh... got away."

"That's _great_ news!" He picked me up off the ground again.

"Uh, it is?"

"Yes! New plan--" He slung an arm around my shoulders. "You and I are going to hunt the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. We're going to take down that Night Fury, once and for all."

"Uh, okay..."

He suddenly grabbed onto me and pulled me in front of his campfire, where he crouched and began to howl a battle cry into the wind. 

"Come on, Reign Howl with me. It feels good." While he howled and cackled with full enthusiasm, I gave a sort of half-hearted mew, as though I really didn't care for this-- which I didn't

This was not good.

My brother jumped up onto one of the logs he used to sit on, and after a few minutes of awkward silence, I hopped up as well.

"Reign, ever since I left Berk, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." I grimaced, concerned about the direction this was going in. 

"Oh. That's... kinda strange. Well, I'm... flattered?"

"You, and Hiccup... You two and that Night Fury. It's like, like you _knew_ that dragon. Like you were inside its head, rattling its cage. And that, my distanced and cast out sibling, is when I decided I needed to know about dragons, too. So I came here, and I learned about them one by one." He removed a Nadder spike from behind him. "Deadly Nadder, got _this_ in the leg. It was awesome! Monstrous Nightmare." I wanted to be horrified by the skull on a spear behind me, but honestly, I expected nothing less from my brother. "Look at that. Not so monstrous now, are you? And don't even get me started on the Gronkle." He held up a large leg of meat, and I had to draw the line there.

"Uh... i-is that-"

"No. It's yak. Anyway, those big boys are quicker than you'd think." The roar of a dragon caused dragon to jump and throw his yak meat to the ground. He immediately drew a crossbow and started to look around in a panic, trying to find it under the cover of night. 

"Whoa! Nice crossbow." I had to give him credit where it was due. 

"It's my hunting weapon of choice. You carry..." He turned around and furrowed his brow down at me. "Hmm... just a puny sword and a shield."

"Yeah, yeah, just the necessities. But Hiccup made me both these things, so... I like carrying them around with me."

"Very... ornate. Our other sister had one like it." I sat up a little straighter and raised an eyebrow at Dagur.

"Wait, we have another sister?"

"I myself have never felt the need to hide in combat." He suddenly let out a battle cry, startling me to the point where I nearly fell of the log.

"Yeah..." I guess I would never get an answer to my question. "So, just how long have you been out here, Dagur?"

"A couple of days. Weeks, maybe. Hard to tell. It's all a blur when you're on the hunt." He suddenly grabbed onto the back of my head, jerking my eyes to look right at him. "Eyes front, Reign!"

"Hey, maybe you should take a little break," I suggested as I got him to let go and held the place where he'd grabbed in pain.

"Not 'till I take out that Night Fury! It's right here on this island, Reign, I can feel it. Right... here." He placed a hand on his chest. He then proceeded to yank me up by my hand and slap it right where he'd just had his. "You feel it, too, don't you, Reign?"

"Uh, no. I just feel really... awkward." Dagur began to laugh at what I suppose he assumed to be a joke, but there wasn't anything funny about that. This was the most one-on-one time I'd spent with my brother ever, and he'd reminded me thoroughly why I never wanted to be like him.

"You-you bring the funny, Reign. I'll give you that. I'm gonna grab my gear, then we're gonna get us that Night Fury, sister."

My stomach lurched at that word: sister. There was something about the way he said it, and the fact he'd never called me that before, that sickened me. 

"Uh, sister?"

"That's right. You and me." 

I leaned back on my arms, the only things keeping me from completely collapsing onto the dirt.

"And the awkwardness continues."

Reluctantly, I got up from the ground and followed Dagur at as far a distance as I could manage, without him getting upset or suspecting something else was up. With only a lantern lighting our way, I tried my best to think my way out of this one, to save Toothless and Hiccup without my brother killing me in the process. Not long after we'd begun walking, a pair of booming footsteps sounded in the distance.

"Shh... that could be him." Dagur held his hand out behind him, as though attempting to stop me. 

"No, that sounds too big."

Sure enough, from over the top of the cliff, a Monstrous Nightmare poked its head out, shooting a flame into the air. Dagur grabbed onto my shoulder and yanked me to hide behind a bush with him as the Monstrous Nightmare took off, spitting fire down onto the land.

"You're right. I'm taking them down anyway, just for fun." Dagur held up his crossbow, aiming it for the Nightmare as it flew away. Thinking fast, I reached out and smacked the weapon down to keep him from firing. Anger took over his face as he glared down at me, but I remained firm in place. "How _dare_ you?"

"I-I had to," I stuttered. "The Night Fury... would've... smelled it." 

_Smelled it?_ Thor, how stupid did I sound?

"They can do that?" 

But, thankfully, my brother seemed to buy it.

"Oh, yes. Oh, excellent sense of smell. It would've sensed danger and fled."

"Look at us! You, this little runt of a- well, you know what you are." I huffed and rolled my eyes as I crossed my arms. "And me, Dagur the Deranged! Who would've ever thought we'd make such a formidable team.

"Uh, not me... that's for sure."

"Let's move out."

He refused to remove his arm from my shoulder as he dragged me alongside him. So much for an escape... All I could do was try my best to protect the others and their dragons, particularly Toothless. We made our way into a clearing, and all of a sudden, I was yanked down behind a rock, once again hiding from a dragon that likely wasn't Toothless.

"Smaller, this time. Could be the Night Fury." The growl sounded nothing like a Night Fury's. In fact, it didn't sound like a dragon at all.

"Uh, that- that actually sounds more like a wild yak to me." Dagur emerged from behind the rock anyways and held his crossbow out, as though he were actually going to attack anything. I readied myself to smack the crossbow again as Dagur's finger tightened around the trigger, but thankfully, he chose not to shoot when Snotlout emerged from the bushes. "Ah, close enough." His eyes rested on me, and for a second, I knew I was screwed.

"Reign! Whoa, am I glad to see you. You would not _believe_ what I've been through. This place is _crawling_ with wild dragons."

"Yep. It's called Dragon Island, Snotlout."

"Dagur! What are you doing here?"

"Snot... hat, is it?"

"Snotlout..."

"Whatever. Thought you said you were here alone," he whispered to me through clenched teeth.

"I-I thought I was." Time to ramble my way out of this one. "Snotlout! Why, you were supposed to stay at base camp." As I approached him, I shot a look that begged him to go along with what I was doing. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to get it.

"What?"

"While I am hunting dragons here in the forest."

"You're doing what? Where?"

"Not the sharpest arrow in the quiver, is he?" Dagur asked quietly as he walked past us.

"Not even close." I turned to face Snotlout again, this time far more urgent. "Play along. We cannot let Dagur know about our dragons. He'll try to take them home and mount them on his wall."

"Wait... you mean-"

"Yes. Now shush and just keep walking." He managed to remain silent for a few moments, then spoke up again, much to my annoyance.

"Does Hiccup know about any of this?"

"No," I hissed. "And I'd prefer he never knew. It'd be better that way."

"How is this better?"

"You know what he'd do if he knew I was in danger. He's Hiccup." Snotlout shook his head. "Besides, I may hate him to death, and hope I never become him, but at least I get to spend time with my brother. Isn't that supposed to be important?" 

"Your brother is Dagur the Deranged."

"Still..."

A rusting in the leaves suddenly caused my heart rate to spike, and from it, Fishlegs emerged, bumping into Snotlout and causing the two of them to scream. He and Snotlout just shrieked at each other until they realized who they'd bumped into.

"Fishlegs! Would you look at that?" Panic was starting to set in. "It's Dagur, who is also out hunting dragons, just like us."

"Yes!" Snotlout grabbed onto our shoulders. "We are dragon hunters, out hunting dragons."

"Reign." I looked up at my brother. "Your definition of alone, and mine, are very different. But perhaps this one can help us-"

"-hunt dragons! 'Cuz that's what we are doing. Hunting..."

"...dragons..." Thankfully, Fishlegs caught on much quicker than Snotlout

"Okay, got it."

With one last suspicious glance, Dagur continued to march on, leading the group of not dragon hunters closer to a situation that required a plan that I didn't have. 

"Reign, you're in over your head on this one," Fishlegs warned.

"You think I don't know that?" I shot back. "I'm trying to come up with something to help Toothless, but I've got nothing!" My hand flew to my necklace and I started to toss it back and forth, desperately clinging to that last shred of hope that I could salvage this situation.

"You know, you and I are a lot alike, Reign."

"Really? Ho-how 's that?"

"Well, we're both Berserkers, and siblings, for starters. And we're both born leaders."

"Oh, yeah, he's right about that."

"Children of a chief." 

"That's true."

"Who had to be eliminated so we could take control."

"I guess... wait what? This is the second time you've mentioned something about that! What did you do to dad?" Dagur cackled hysterically, refusing to give me an answer before firing an arrow- on accident- straight at a tree, nailing Fishlegs' lantern to its trunk. "Oh... kay. Something to think about..."

The leaves of the bushes rustling caused Dagur to whip around, aiming his crossbow wherever he thought the source was. This time... this time it sounded more like a Night Fury, and all of us crouched down. My heart hammered against my chest, my eyes darting back and forth in hopes that Toothless wouldn't jump out. Eventually, the chaos settled, and I thought this was over.

"Which one of your friends is it going to be this time?" Dagur sighed.

"It's hard to say."

Suddenly, a purple plasma blast shot out from the bushes, lighting the leaves on fire and allowing Toothless' head to perk out from over the bushes. I needed a plan _now_. 

"The Night Fury!" I hated how happy Dagur sounded. "Reign, my sister, you've done it! You led me right to it."

_Oh, Hiccup's gonna kill me..._

Dagur aimed his crossbow straight at Toothless' neck. Neither stood down, neither looked as though they were going to give up, and I was out of time. 

"Arrow, meet dragon."

"No, no, Dagur! Wait." I got up and pushed the crossbow down again. "I... would like to do it."

"I saw him first!" he whined like a three year old. I yanked the crossbow from his hands.

"Yes, but I led you to him." He took it back.

"But I brought the crossbow. All you brought was that useless, ornate shield. Now, stand aside."

A group of Terrible Terrors suddenly lept from behind the trees and tackled Dagur, causing him to fire the arrow he had, and thankfully, he missed Toothless. I tried to remember the signals Hiccup used for Toothless before the Terrors detached themselves from him. I brushed my hand to the right, and thankfully, Toothless turned around and ran. That gave me a little more time.

"What's wrong with you?" I stared in awe as Astrid approached. I hadn't even known she was here... "I almost had those Terrible Terrors. They were right in my hands!"

"Terrors, schmerrors. We're hunting a Night Fury here! Did you leave _anyone_ back on Berk?"

"Hopefully Hiccup..." I muttered, just quiet enough that he couldn't hear me. He stormed away in a fit, and I quickly approached Astrid, lowering my gaze.

"Did he say... hunting a Night Fury?" I knew she was mad, but I needed her help getting out of this.

"Yup, that's exactly what he said."

"But Toothless is-"

"I know. And if he's loose, then so are the other dragons. You guys need to find Hiccup, Ruff, and Tuff, and get out of here." She looked down at her feet, as though she were going to argue with me, but we didn't have time for that. I had to save Toothless, and I had to do it now. "Don't worry. Dagur won't hurt me. I'm his sister."

I nearly jumped out of my skin as he came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Come, Reign! While the trail is still fresh."

"I-I can't hunt with an entourage. Go back to Berk! Leave us to our business!" 

It didn't take the two of us long to catch up to Toothless, who bounded across the rocks as fast as he could. The whole time, the gears in my brain were turning, trying my best to come up with a plan. I didn't have a lot of options, and there was a really good chance I would have to improvise, but at least I could come up with an outline.

"I don't get it!" Dagur cried, frustrated. "Why doesn't it fly away?"

"Maybe it wants us to follow?"

"You mean, like a trap?"

"Exactly. Yes, yes. Maybe we should head back."

"Oh, sister. Don't you know that a trapper's traps can trap the trapper?" My mind suddenly became consumed by trying to dissect the sentence that just spilled from my brother's mouth. 

"What does that even mean?"

"I don't know." He fell into a fit of cackles again, before sliding down the side of the cliff, forcing me to follow. We were a little too close to Toothless for comfort, but thankfully, the distance was just far enough that none of the arrows Dagur fired could actually hit Toothless.

"You're not going to hit anything like that," I gasped out, trying my best to catch my breath.

"I know that. I'm just trying to keep him running in that direction."

My eyes went wide as he pulled on something, and the current arrow in the shaft lit aflame, and he fired it off into the horizon.

"Uh, what was that?" I asked cautiously.

"To be honest, Reign, I didn't exactly come here alone, either."

Much to my horror, a group of flaming arrows shot themselves out of the horizon. The situation had officially gone from bad to worse, for several reasons.

"Dagur, Night Furies are very lethal. A few more men won't make a difference," I tried to reason.

"Oh, you think so? Lucky for us, I brought the armada along and, like, a bazillion armed Berserkers."

As if on cue, a large group of arrows shot up from where the water was. I held up the shield at the last minute to keep myself from getting hit, and adrenaline started to kick in. I had to, above all else, protect Toothless and get him out of here.

"Yeah, that actually might make a difference."

"Oh, yeah. We're gonna drive that beast right to them, and they can finish him off."

"Not exactly sporting."

"I don't care about sporting. I care about killing that Night Fury and wearing its skull as a helmet."

He set another arrow in the shaft and began to inch his way toward Toothless, a menacing grin on his face. The poor Night Fury was forced to back up, and nearly fell off the cliff, his back legs slipping as pebbles beneath him crumbled away. He let out a helpless roar, and suddenly, I didn't care about a plan. I just needed to save Toothless. My free hand curled into a fist, and I felt rage lacing itself into the adrenaline.

"Okay, that's it. I am not going to let you kill that dragon."

"Really, this again? Fine. You saw it first, you can... take home a wing or something."

"No, I'm pretty much going to take the whole thing."

And then, out of nowhere, I let out a Night Fury call, something Hiccup never even taught me before. Somehow, in the moment, I'd managed to nail it. Toothless jumped up onto the rocks and roared, before leaping over Dagur and taking a defensive stance near me. His eyes went wide as he scanned the dark dragon, and it suddenly hit him.

"Is that a-"

"-saddle? Yes, Dagur, that's exactly what it is." Confidently, I climbed up onto Toothless, ignoring the fact I really had no idea how to fly him.

"So I was-"

"-right all along. We do not hunt dragons on Berk." My foot slipped into one of the stirrups, and when it accidentally fell forward, something clicked, and Toothless' tail fin fanned out. "We ride them."

"Your father lied to m- _You_ lied to me!" He pointed an accusatory finger in my direction, fuming with anger.

"He was trying to keep the peace between tribes. So was I."

"By making a fool out of me?"

"You don't need a lot of help with that _brother_." That last word rolled off my tongue mockingly. Dagur attempted to reach for his sword, but Toothless roared at him, instead causing him to jump back. "Your move."

"You could've been my sister, Reign."

"Genetically, I still am."

"Now, you're my enemy."

"Have it your way. But remember-- we have the dragons, and we're not afraid to use them." I pat Toothless on his neck. "Let's get out of here, bud."

Toothless thankfully managed to get off the ground and fly, and just when I thought we were going to get away, a bola wrapped around his tail and dragged us down back onto the land. I went flying from his back, tumbling onto the rock, and Dagur threw two more bolas: one around Toothless' body, and another to silence him. He drew his sword and began to charge, but before he could bring it down, I managed to sit up and extend my arm out, blocking the swing with the shield. He glared down at me, and with a sudden kick, he sent me right back to the ground again. Quickly, I shot myself back up and threw the shield like a disk, knocking the sword from Dagur's hand and bringing it back to me. He tossed a couple of knives my way, but I managed to block them. As the fire grew more intense, Toothless smacked Dagur with his tail, and I ran for cover. 

"Your move, Reign," he taunted as he got up and fired an arrow at me. Toothless struggled against his bonds, but the moment I tried to run to him. Dagur fired three more hours just inches from my face. Toothless managed to roll out of the way, thankfully, keeping him out of firing distance. "You can't hide forever."

And suddenly, I wasn't afraid anymore. I jumped out from behind the trees and held the shield in front of me.

"I don't plan to." I reached into one of my pouches and pulled out an arrow. "Fun fact, brother: this isn't my shield. Hiccup gave it to me before we came here today in case of emergency."

I pressed the button near the handle, and the shield unfolded to become a crossbow. I fired at him, and although he ducked out of the way, I wasn't finished.

"Nice try, sister."

"Oh, and by the way, I'm not your sister. Not in spirit, anyway."

I puled back to allow the shield to take its original shape, and I fired the tether up into the tree.

"Haha, you missed."

"Did I?"

I yanked on the shield, and the branch snapped, causing it to fall down on Dagur. That gave me just enough time to dive for Toothless and attempt to start cutting his bonds, but unfortunately, I couldn't finish. Dagur lunged at me from out of the trees, and the only thing that saved me was grabbing the shield at the last second and holding it up. He cackled as he pushed down on it, crushing my chest. I tried my best to push him off of me, but thankfully, Toothless snapped the bola around his mouth and shot straight at Dagur, knocking him out of the way and allowing me to cut Toothless free. Dagur reached for his sword just as I jumped up onto Toothless, and with a final blast, we shot into the sky. I heard the others land behind me just as Dagur shouted, "dragon attack!", and I turned to look at them.

"We'd better go now. His men are on the way."

"Come on," Snotlout whined. "We can take them."

"Not today. Dagur will be back. And when he is, we'll be ready."

Hiccup jumped off of Shriek and made his way over to me, and the two of us traded dragons before taking off and heading to Berk before things could get worse. I kept my eyes forward, staring down the horizon and attempting to process. So much happened today, and I wasn't entirely sure about dealing with it all. 

"Hey, Reign."

I whipped my head around to see Hiccup, and I suddenly felt myself relax. Carefully, I removed the shield from my back and traded with him.

"Thanks for this. It... really came in handy."

"If we knew how to make Gronkle Iron, I'd make you one of your own." I shook my head.

"That's not important. What's important is I managed to save that guy." I nodded toward Toothless. "I don't know what I would've done if I couldn't."

He steered Toothless a little closer and took one of my hands in his.

"I owe you."

I smiled, but inside, my mind continued to turn. As much as I wanted to deny it, Dagur and I _were_ siblings.

What if it was in my blood to end up like him?


	24. (Hiccup)

"Cut him off!" my dad ordered. "Make sure he doesn't escape."

I landed Toothless on one side of my dad, Reign on the other, and the two of us glanced at each other before getting ready to take off again.

"I didn't think he could move that fast," I sighed, looking at her. The corners of her eyes crinkled as she laughed at my joke, then Toothless and Shriek shot up, and we resumed following the path of falling objects. While she remained in the air, I landed on the ground and attempted to cut off our subject. He turned as soon as he saw me and started to run in the other direction. "Reign, he's heading in your direction!"

"Got it!" She watched the way they ran, then executed a plan. "Shriek, sonic boom."

I covered my ears as Shriek screamed, and large waves of sound visibly traveled down in front of our runner, and broke a few crates to send splinters flying and barrels tumbling that blocked his way.

"I won't do it, Stoick," Gobber protested. "And you can't make me!" Reign and I each landed on one side of my dad. "None of you can make me!"

"Keep him surrounded!" my dad shouted.

"A Viking is _supposed_ to smell this way. It's a badge of honor!" 

A Terrible Terror climbed around to rest on Gobber's shoulder, but upon taking one whiff, he stuck his tongue out and flew off in a daze, before striking a pole and collapsing onto the dirt.

"Hurry. We've gotta get that tub filled to give Gobber his bath," Fishlegs urged as Meatlug landed in front of him.

"It's for your own good, Gobber."

"Actually, it's for the good of the town," I clarified.

"Get in the tub."

Snotlout and Hookfang landed behind him to trap him.

"Hookfang, toss him in the tub!" Rather than doing what he was told, Hookfang jerked his head to launch Snotlout in the air and fire him straight into the empty basin meant to serve as Gobber's tub. "Every... single... time! Doesn't this get old for you?" Hookfang just rolled his eyes.

I pointed Toothless in Gobber's direction, and he began to circle him. I glanced at Reign, and the two of us winked at each other to indicate the two of us were ready. 

"Now Reign!"

Shriek and Reign flew into the air to distract Gobber, and once he was looking at them, Toothless came up from underneath him and shot him straight into the basin.

"Fishlegs, soap and water!" My dad went over and held Gobber down by his face as Fishlegs and Meatlug rounded the corner with a bucket in hands. The two of them hovered just above his head, then Fishlegs tipped the bucked down. Curiously enough, only a few drops slid down onto the top of the Viking's head. Reign landed, and the two of us cast curious glances in each others' direction. "You're gonna have to do better than that, son."

"I can't, sir. The well... it's run dry."

All of us looked up at Fishlegs in shock for a moment, then all rushed over to the well to check things out. My father dropped the bucket down as far as it could go, then after waiting a few seconds, brought it back up to find the inside completely dry.

"We just dug that well two summers ago."

"Water doesn't just disappear," I muttered, staring down the dark pit. "There has to be a reason." My father sighed and threw the bucket down.

"We'll have to dig a new well. And until it's done, we'll have to ration water, which means-"

"No more baths!" Gobber cheered, clapping a hand on my shoulder. A disgusted and uncomfortable look crossed Reign's face as I gagged from the smell, unable to control myself as I coughed and my eyes watered. "Always a silver lining."

Covering her mouth, Reign reached under Gobber and pulled me out, away from the two adults near us.

"You good now?" she joked, a bright smile crossing her face as she jabbed me with one of her elbows. Carefully, I stood up straight again and looked her in the eyes. "We should gather everyone in the Academy and try to come up with some answers. Most of our brains will work better together." Her eyes flicked down for a second. "Most..." 

I could help but laugh as she hopped onto Shriek. I knew for a while, she'd had some trouble. With what, I'm not quite sure-- she wouldn't tell me. But she seemed to recover quickly, and was back to her old self in no time. So now, she was focused on this well issue, and knowing her, she wouldn't quit until she knew what was going on. And the best I could do was support her on it. We went and gathered everyone up and got them to the Academy.

"Okay. We need to find a way to keep Berk supplied with water until a new well can be dug." I paced back and forth as I explained the situation.

"Ruff, Tuff, strap on the washtub and head to Lars Lake to fill it," Reign delegated.

"Okay, but that thing's pretty big." I didn't like the way Tuffnut laughed as he answered. "I mean, it's bigger than Ruff's butt. That might take a while. Like, a week or two." Following the insult, Ruffnut reeled back and punched her brother in the arm, causing him to fall over.

"Well, I was assuming you would use your dragon," Reign sighed.

"Why would you think that?" Tuff asked as he stood up straight.

"Because I-" She facepalmed, and I reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Okay, moving on," I said. "Astrid, Snotlout, head to the mountain streams and fill as many canteens as you can."

"The mountain streams..." Snotlout reached over to Astrid in an attempt to drape his arm around her shoulders. "Romantic." The moment his arm made impact, she grabbed onto it and threw him to the ground. "Ow!"

"Fishlegs, Meatlug, you're going to help Reign and I figure out what happened inside that well." A nervous look crossed Fishlegs' face, and he began to back up toward his dragon.

"Um, you may not know this, but Meatlug and I don't do well in tight spaces." I continued to stare at them for a second, growing exhausted with my friends. Both Reign and I were at our wits ends.

"You don't have to go down into the well, Fishlegs. You just have to lower Hiccup and I down there so that we can check it out."

He nervously glanced at Meatlug again, before sighing and giving in. Once we reach the well, Reign handed Fishlegs the rope that typically lowered the bucket down and instructed him to tie it a couple of times around Meatlug. She met my eyes every now and then as it got done, and she reached over to hand me a lantern.

"I'm going to have Fishlegs lower you down first, then I'll meet you down there. Don't try to wander." I smirked at her as she made her way back over to her dragon. "Don't laugh. You know you'd do it if I didn't say something."

"Reign, with our luck, the water's just farther down than we thought it was."

"Then don't go swimming."

I rolled my eyes at her as I climbed up onto the rope. While Meatlug hovered in the air, Fishlegs slowly fed the rope down. I held the lantern out in front of me and looked at the walls as I went lower. 

"That's it, girl!" Fishlegs praised his dragon. "Just keep it steady."

"Lower," I called up. "Keep going. Just a little more." I watched the wall until I found the line where the stones turned dark. "Okay, hold her right there." I touched the stone, feeling enough dampness to give me an idea of what was going on. "The water level was way up here... and it's still wet." Just to test something, I removed a loose stone from the wall and tossed it down into the darkness. Instead of hearing a splash, or anything else that would indicate water, I heard it hit dirt. I had to get a closer look. "Fishlegs, get me all the way down!"

"Are you sure? It looks awfully dark and scary down there."

"Fishlegs!"

"Okay! Take him down, girl."

As Fishlegs began to lower me, I started to try and think through the situation. Something had to have drained the water, but what? Nothing could live down there, and there was no way for a person to get down there. How could all the water be gone, but the wall still remained damp? The water must have just disappeared, but again, how?

Suddenly, the rope began to list back and forth, nearly slamming me against the rocks.

"Whoa! Whoa... Fishlegs, wait!" 

I noticed the rope corner itself against a sharp rock, and the twists began to unfold. 

"Steady, Meatlug!"

Before Fishlegs could do anything, the rope snapped in half, and I felt myself plummeting into the darkness.

"Hiccup!" I heard Reign scream as I fell. Their faces grew smaller and smaller as I came closer to striking the ground. At a point where I could no longer see in front of my face, I vaguely heard Toothless' roar from above. 

I struck the dirt at the bottom of the well with tremendous force, shocking and knocking the wind out of me for a moment. I felt my heartbeat in my ears, and tried my best to ignore a dull pain spreading itself through the back of my head. Carefully, I managed to get up from the dirt, and as soon as I did, Toothless shot down toward me and knocked me back over again.

"Toothless! You okay?" I got up onto my knees and crawled over to him, inspecting him for injuries. He responded by affectionately licking my cheek, indicating he was fine.

"Hiccup!" I heard my dad call from above. Reign must have run off to find him. "Hiccup!"

"We're okay, Dad!"

"Are you flying back up?"

I knew it would worry everyone else, but I had to figure out what was going on down here before going back up there with the rest of them. Besides, Toothless would never fit up there.

"No! It's too narrow!"

"Somebody get me a rope!" I heard Reign order. I could imagine her darting around, frantically attempting to find a way to get me back up there. "I'm coming down after you, Hiccup!"

 _No, no, no, no._ I know she joked about it, but it might not be safe for her to come down here with me. I didn't know what waited in the shadows down here, but I couldn't risk her getting hurt as well.

"No, Reign, don't! Then all three of us will be stuck down here."

"Well, just stay right there until I can think a way to bring you both up."

"We're fine! The water had to go somewhere. Besides, I have Toothless with me. We'll find a way out."

I started to wander down the tunnel that had been dug, my lantern thankfully somehow still lit. As I turned around, I noticed a strange second tunnel, one that definitely wasn't a passageway for water. It led away from the source.

"Wait... I think I found something! It looks like a... a tunnel," I called up to the three people waiting for me. 

"Well... just be careful down there, son," my dad cautioned. "We'll be standing by if you need us."

"Okay, bud. What'd'ya say we find out where this leads?" 

The tunnel branched off in two directions at one point, and I decided to take the two of us to the left. A large hole had been dug into the rock, made by something too large to be one of our Vikings.

"I don't know about you, but I get the distinct feeling we are not alone down here." Toothless hesitated for a moment, turning around as though he were looking at something before following as I marched on. Large caverns stretched above us, stalactites and mites oddly threatening as the lights cast over them. "Wow. These caverns run right under the town."

I stopped in my tracks as something crunched under my feet. Cautiously, I bent down and held my lantern over the broken shell of a dragon egg. More specifically, an egg that had hatched.

"Dragon eggs?" Toothless managed to get close and sniff it, and as soon as his inspection was done, he began to let out a low growl, looking around as though the dragon that had come from this egg were nearby. My heart rate went up as I stood, holding the lantern out in front of me in an attempt to find what Toothless could smell. The light fell on a sea of hatched dragon eggs, scattering the ground like an alarm system. But what caught my eye was a strange crate at the end of the trail.

"Look at these." I made my way closer to the box in question and leaned closer. A very distinct marking on the side of it tipped me off. "That's the Outcast crest."

A menacing roar sounded from farther down in the cave.

"Toothless, light up the cave down that way." He did as told, sending a plasma blast flying against the wall. The rocks remained aglow long enough for me to get a better look at the situation. Along the way, I noticed several small holes dug into the foundations, ones that looked vaguely familiar.

"Those are Whispering Death tunnels." Toothless let out a disapproving growl. "I know. Not my favorite dragon either, bud." I pointed my lantern up toward a hole much larger than any of the others. "I don't even want to know who made that." As I stared up at it, a shiver ran down my spine. "Come on, we should keep moving."

I kept myself on alert as we stepped deeper into the tunnel, hoping no Whispering Deaths- or whatever dragon made that bigger tunnel- were lurking around the corner. Lost in thought, we reached the end of the tunnel, which was blocked off by rocks, likely piled up by the Outcasts who brought those dragon eggs in. Sighing, I turned around and decided to try and find another way out, but just as I did, the flame on the lantern reached the end of its last leg of life and extinguished.

"Oh, even greater," I groaned. "Toothless, would you mind?" I felt around until I found the latch that opened the door on the lantern, and he spat out a low flame that lit my light source again.

Unfortunately, as soon as I stood, the leathery flapping of wings caused me to turn around, and a Whispering Death screamed at us. I jumped, and Toothless fired a blast to get the Whispering Death to back off for a moment, then I hopped on his back.

"Let's get out of here, bud!"

Toothless jumped up into the air and glided back in the direction we'd come from, the thrashing sound of the Whispering Death's tail not too far behind us. Out of nowhere, another Whispering Death came out of another tunnel and attempted to cut Toothless and I off, roaring in an attempt to intimidate us. Toothless quickly pushed past it, but as soon as we came to a clearing, another Whispering Death came up to block our way.

"One..." Another one came from the tunnel we'd just left. "Two..." And another flew out from the next passage. "Three..." One of them lunged right at us, but Toothless managed to dart out of the way just in time. Unfortunately, they chose to pursue their prey. "Oh, come on!" 

The further out we flew, the more muted their roars became, until we reached a point where I could barely hear them. Confused, I turned around to find the chase had come to a stop, and as much as I wanted to be relieved, there was something eerie about the fact that a group of one of the most dangerous dragon breeds in the archipelago didn't want to come this way.

"Uh, that's weird."

I pulled on Toothless to turn around, but when we reached the last point they'd been, they somehow had disappeared. I looked around, trying to find a trace of them, but all that surrounded us was silence.

"Where'd they go?"

As if on cue, a large rock fell from the large hole that had been dug above us, smacking Toothless on the top of his head. That tunnel must lead up into the village, which could only mean...

"They're heading up to the town! We have to stop them!"

Toothless shot up into the tunnel and shot out that blast of sound he uses to find his way in dark spaces. The lantern provided little light source, and this way, we knew what was coming. 

"Yeah, that's it, bud!" I encouraged. "Keep going!" The purple light traveled in an odd pattern along the dirt. "Can these guys _ever_ make a straight tunnel? It's a good thing one of us can see in the dark..."

Thankfully, a square of light came into view in front of me, and the two of us shot through a hole those Whispering Deaths dug. I kept us going until we were above Berk, and I got a better view of a situation. The three Whispering Deaths circled around the village, seemingly with less regard than the one that attacked last time. 

"Oh... we have to get in there, bud."

Toothless immediately dove back down toward the village, near Gobber's smithy. As soon as Toothless landed, I jumped off his back and raced into the shack.

"Toothless, cover me."

I rummaged around among the weapons until I found my shield. I yanked it out of the pile, knocking a few items down in the process, and rushed back out. A Whispering Death had pinned Toothless to the ground, his large jaws looming over his head, threatening to clamp down at any moment and slice it clean off. I held the shield up into the air and allowed it to catch the vague light coming down through the cloud cover and shone the reflection straight into the eye of the dragon. It flinched and let out a pained cry.

"Let's shine a little light on the situation." It continued to flinch and cower, until finally, the dragon gave up and flew somewhere else. "Oh, you don't like that, do ya? Rule number one, never forget a dragon's weakness." Toothless padded his way over to me and purred to get my attention. "Come on, Toothless. Let's get after him."

The Whispering Death dashed off into the air, before circling back and heading straight for the center of the village. As Toothless and I turned to follow him, I caught Reign and Shriek diving straight for us out of the corner of my eye before the two of them pulled up next to us.

"The Whispering Death tunnels drained our water supply," I informed her.

"Yeah, kind of figured that," she sighed. "We need to keep them in the sunlight."

"That's why I have this." I held up my shield and kept the sunlight I'd caught on the metal shining on the face of the Whispering Death. It continued to roar in protest as I chased it, attempting to get them out of the village, possibly off of Berk. Its other two companions met up with it, and they started to flee. 

"It's working! We're driving them away from the village!"

A blast of fire shot at the three dragons, and Snotlout and Fishlegs dove down toward them.

"Yeah, that's right! You _better_ run!" Snotlout threatened.

We ceased our pursuit as the Whispering Deaths fled past the village, closer to the mountains and the horizon where they'd be less of a nuisance.

"I'm gonna miss those guys," Tuffnut lamented. Reign shot him a look, but he didn't seem to notice it. "They were like dangerous, but cool at the same time. Kind of like me."

"I don't think this is over yet," I admitted. There were too many empty eggs down there for only three Whispering Deaths. "Not by a long shot."

"Stop being so negative! Enjoy the moment, Hiccup. Buy some water."

I looked at Reign, raising one of my eyebrows, but she simply waved her hand dismissively in my direction.

"Just don't ask."

Soon as the words tumbled out of her mouth, the ground below us began to tremble, and a loud, terrifying roar shot itself through the village.

"What is that?"

The ground beneath us burst open, and from the hole created emerged a dragon that towered over all of us. Its scales were a blinding white, red eyes cutting through everything it surveyed, fangs the size of mountains.

"Uh, so that's what I was afraid of!"

It glanced down at the village for a moment before looking back down at all of us, roaring.

"Uh, suggestions, anyone?"

It suddenly shot through out defense, causing Fishlegs to drag Meatlug out of the way, and headed straight for the village.

"What is that thing?"

"Uh, Fishlegs? Is that in the Book of Dragons?" As he got closer to joining our group again, he shook his head with a grave expression on his face. All he could mumble was incoherent babble. "Fishlegs! Is that thing in the Book of Dragons?"

"Uh... definitely not."

"Are you sure?"

"Hiccup, I'm certain I would've remembered an all-white, boulder class, titan wing Whispering Death with bright red eyes that bore a hole right through your very soul."

That meant none of us knew its weakness, and we'd have to figure it out as we go.

"Toothless, plasma blast!"

He fired a shot right at the point between the dragon's neck and head, and it whipped around, glaring at all of us before letting out a ground shaking roar that caused all of us to cover our ears. Beneath us, everyone's dragon began to thrash back and forth, as though they suddenly couldn't focus on something as simple as flying.

"It's- It's affecting our dragons!" Astrid cried over the noise.

"I know. That scream... it's disorienting them!" Satisfied, the dragon turned back around and continued its flight to the village.

"Screaming Death... I love it!" Tuffnut cried.

That scream, among other things, apparently summoned the other Whispering Deaths, because they shot above our heads and headed straight for the village, this time disregarding our presence.

"Okay, maybe love is too strong a word."

"Hiccup, what are we gonna do?" I glanced at Reign, and for the first time in a while, she looked completely out of ideas.

"You guys focus on the Whispering Death. I'll try to keep the Screaming Death busy."

"Okay, have fun." Of course, Snotlout had no reservations. "See ya!" He dashed off before anyone could tell him what he needed to do.

"Remember your Flight Club training!"

With that, I pushed Toothless to move faster, and we dove straight for the Screaming Death. A woman tripped on a rock buried in the dirt and collapsed to the ground. Just before the dragon struck, we came close enough in range. 

"Toothless, now!" The plasma blast struck the Screaming Death and caused it to turn around and target us. It attempted to hit Toothless, but we managed to get out of the way just in time and strike him again. It roared and jerked its tail out, and before I could get Toothless out of the way, it struck us and sent us tumbling through the air. We smacked against the roof of a hut before crashing onto the ground. My shield flew out of my hands, and the Screaming Death loomed over me as I stood.

Just before it got the change to strike again, a group of sound waves hit the Screaming Death, and from the horizon, my dad and Thornado emerged. It sneered at the two of them before flying away, almost as though it were afraid of them.

"Thanks, Dad!" I called as I reached for my shield.

"I don't think I want to know what that thing is, but we need to get it out of here."

"Way ahead of you! I'll try and lead it out of the village."

My dad continued to fire sonic blasts at the Screaming Death, while I got up onto Toothless and prepared to lead it out of the village. Hopefully, if I could do that, this thing would leave the island on its own, or at least stay away from the village. I hit him with another plasma blast, then met up with my dad and attempted to pull our thoughts together.

"Okay. Let's see how it likes this." 

I reflected the sunlight into the eyes of the dragon, and sure enough, it roared in pain and flinched, then shot itself straight back into the ground. 

Or, at least, that's what I _thought_ happened.

"Yeah, that's what I thought!"

I immediately regretted what I'd said when the Screaming Death shot up from behind the huts and charged straight for us, completely unaffected by the light directly in its eyes.

"Look out!" The two of us flew out of the way before it could hit us.

"Apparently, it doesn't mind." 

"It must not have that weakness."

"Well, we better figure out what it _does_ have, and quick." It let out that scream that caused the dragons to move back and forth, unable to control themselves. "What's happening?"

"It's the scream! It affects the dragons' flight."

Somehow, Toothless managed to fight the disorientation long enough to fire another plasma blast at the Screaming Death. It shook its head, and with a new fire in its eyes, dove straight for Toothless and I. I tried my best to out-fly it while I thought of something. I tried shining a light on it again, but to no avail. In fact, it made it fly faster. And that's when the start of a solution dawned on me.

"It's actually attracted to the light. I guess that can be a weakness, too. Toothless, to the sea stacks!"

Taking a huge risk, the two of us dove faster, drawing the Screaming Death along with us. We dodged back and forth between stacks in an attempt to trap it, but it was too quick-moving. Thankfully, Reign and Shriek swooped in beside us.

"Need a little help?"

"More than a little," I laughed. "It doesn't have the Whispering Deaths' weakness. It goes after the sunlight."

"So, how do we beat it?" I sat there for a second, attempting to figure out what to do, when a plan suddenly hit me.

"We give it what it wants! I'll keep it following me. You guys get behind, and hit it with everything you have."

"Got it." 

She pulled back on Shriek to get her to slow slightly, then peeled off to head around the other side of the Screaming Death. I continued to fly forward, moving out of the way every time it tried to fire at us. Unfortunately, one of the blasts made direct impact, sending us tumbling onto one of the sea stacks. I ignored the pain in my arm as I pushed myself up, at the same time the Screaming Death rose and stared me down, before letting out an eardrum-bursting roar. I covered my ears, then thankfully, a blast struck the large dragon, which launched the rest of the group relentlessly shooting at the creature. It screamed and thrashed, trying its best to fight back, but none of its blasts managed to hit it. That gave me enough time to get up on Toothless, and we shot up into the air.

"Let's see if we can use his size against him."

We came up through the cloud cover, and the Screaming Death was still behind us, then quickly, we dove down. I could hear the sound of its tail moving behind us, then nearly ended up getting clamped in its jaws. It had no regard for the sea stacks, knocking them down with the crown of its head. 

Perfect.

Toothless quickly dashed around the corner, and I made sure to angle myself in a way where the light hit my shield strongly enough that it could block myself from the Screaming Death's view. Sure enough, it came barreling at us, unaware it was about to crash straight into rock. Just when it got close enough to touch, I pulled Toothless up, and it slammed head-on into the sea stack, causing it to collapse onto the one below it, and the rock from the spot where it had just hit to fall on top of it and trap it down. It repeatedly roared into the air, and even when it managed to get free, it could only fly for a second before falling back down again.

"Its wings are hurt! It can't fly." The three Whispering Deaths came and carried it away. "Wow, look at that." Toothless growled and attempted to lunge for the fleeing dragons. "Whoa, bud. Whoa. It's hurt. Let it go."

"I found Outcast markings on a crate in those tunnels," I told my dad as he attempted to get a torch back up off the ground. "I think Alvin planted those eggs, knowing they would hatch and tear Berk apart. He might not be riding dragons yet, Dad, but he _is_ using them."

"We'll deal with Alvin and his wild dragons later. Right now, we have to fix our water problem."

"You guys, look!" I made my way over to Fishlegs, who was staring down the well. "The well is filling back up!"

"The Screaming Death's digging must have created a new channel for the water, and re-directed it back to our well." At that moment, Gobber wandered past us, attempting to appear inconspicuous.

"Right. Well, I'll be going now." Before he could run, my dad placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Not so fast, Gobber." He dragged Gobber away to _finally_ get him to bathe, and with one last look down the well, I climbed up onto Toothless and flew off to a nearby sea stack. I sighed and stared out at the sky, attempting to pull myself together. 

"There you are." I didn't change my point of fixation as Reign landed next to me. "We missed you at the scrub-down. You should've seen what came out from between his toes."

"I'm more concerned about what came out from under Berk." Her expression changed to one of concern.

"What are you talking about? That thing's long gone."

"I'm not so sure. Whispering Death hatchlings are known to return to their birth place, and claim it as their own."

"So, what are you saying." I finally decided to meet her eyes.

"I don't think we've seen the last of the Screaming Death."


	25. (Reign)

I looked toward the sky in concern as the figure of a boy on his weary dragon came into view through the cloud cover. He let out a victorious cry before swooping down just above our heads, forcing all of us to duck.

"What is with him?" Hiccup asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I heard that ever since Alvin and the Whispering Deaths attacked, he's been training non-stop," I sighed.

"I heard he's been flying all night for the past week," Fishlegs added.

"Yeah? Well I heard Gothi can de-bone a yak just by looking at it." We all turned to look at the twins, wildly confused.

"I heard if you sit on a Terrible Terror, you can make flames come out of your-" I decided to cut Ruffnut off before things went too far.

"Whoa! What does that have to do with Snotlout?" They looked at the rest of us with that expression that indicated they just caught on; an expression they wore far too often.

"Oh. I thought we were playing the 'I heard' game. And, by the way, Terrible Terror thing? Totally true. I tried it."

Snotlout landed on the beach, finally deciding to take a break from the thousands of laps he'd just forced Hookfang to endure. The poor Monstrous Nightmare collapsed as soon as he hit the sand, unable to keep himself upright any longer.

"That's right!" Snotlout shouted. "You just saw what you just saw." He kissed both of his biceps as though he'd accomplished something great, and I rolled my eyes.

"Snotlout, Hookfang looks pretty tired," Hiccup observed. "You might be pushing him too hard."

"You say pushing, I say challenging. Hookfang doesn't rest-- he's a warrior, and we warriors live for the thrill of battle. It's like my dad always says."

"Take a bath, Snotlout?" I joked.

"Rip your tongue out, Snotlout?"

"Stick your head up a yak's-"

"No! No, none of those!" he interjected. "He says 'rest is for the weak'." Everyone went silent and just stared at him. Sure, I wouldn't expect anything less out of Spitelout, but that 'advice' wasn't only stupid, it was dangerous.

"And let's all thank Snotlout for that inspirational speech," Hiccup deadpanned.

"You're welcome. Now, let's get on with this exercise." Hookfang managed to pick his head up, but his tongue hung out of his mouth and his breath remained labored-- a clear sign he needed a break. "Unless you guys are _too tired_." The two of them took off again, and I leaned down against Shriek, propping myself up with my elbow.

"I can name something I'm tired of," Astrid hissed. 

"We should follow him," I proposed. "Just in case something happens to Hookfang. I'm less concerned about Snotlout." 

I sat up straight again, and Hiccup led the rest of us in catching up with Snotlout. I knew he wanted to say something to try and dispel how annoyed I was right now, but at the same time, that was always a risk. Even I never knew whether I'd take the bait, or just start yelling. So, instead, we all just fell into formation and waited for Hiccup to relay today's training exercise. 

"Okay, guys. Alvin wants Berk for himself, and now, he has dragons. If he can train them to fight, we'll have to battle dragon riding Outcast soldiers up here."

"Up where?" I slowly turned to look at Tuffnut, genuinely confused as to how he could be _this_ stupid.

"Here." I wildly gestured my arms around to every point of empty space. "In the sky. On-on your dragon."

"Well, I say bring it on, Alvin." Hiccup sighed at Snotlout's brashness.

"Okay, Reign, for this training exercise, you and Shriek will act as our bad dragon." I smirked at him and leaned down onto Shriek. These guys had no idea what was coming for them.

"Shriek, battle ready." She pulled back and flew above everybody else. "We're gonna hit them with everything we've got, Shriek. They have to be ready for anything." She purred, as though excited for this. "That's my girl."

They all flew off to the right, my signal that the games had begun. Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout would be easy targets. It's Hiccup and Astrid I had to worry about. Stormfly and Toothless were fast, and if Hiccup managed to get him into one of those caves, I didn't stand a chance. I'd go after the former three first, leave the challenge for later. Fishlegs and Meatlug had gone for the forest, thinking that dodging in and out of trees could keep them hidden. As soon as they were in range, I had Shriek ram into a tree and knock it over, blocking their way and allowing me to tap Fishlegs.

"You're both out."

I didn't waste time, immediately beginning my search for the twins. It wasn't too hard to find them. They clearly thought they were hidden among the trees, snickering to each other and acting as though I couldn't see their figures looming above the leaves.

"I told you this would work," Tuffnut cackled, looking at his twin.

"Yeah. She's staring right at us, and doesn't even know we're here."

"Shh, quiet." I rolled my eyes and tapped Shriek to have her crawl forward. We stood right next to their large Zippleback, and I tapped them.

"Out, and out."

"Who's she talking to?"

"It can't be us." I shook my head. These two were certified idiots.

Before I found Snotlout, I spotted Hiccup, keeping his distance from the island, but he was just close enough that he could dive if he needed to make a quick escape. As difficult as catching him would be, the reward was worth the risk. 

"You might as well give up now!" I taunted from behind him.

"Wow, you sound _just_ like Alvin." I tugged on my hair, then pressed both my hands down onto Shriek's back as Hiccup and Toothless suddenly shot forward, diving into a cave. Just as I thought he would.

"Oh, Hiccup. So predictable." I sat up straighter for a second and made a face. "Wow, I really _do_ sound like Alvin. Yikes..."

With that, the two of us dashed into the cave. I managed to catch the outline of Hiccup and Toothless thanks to the reaches of the sunlight, but I knew once we got deeper in, it wouldn't be this easy. Shriek, unfortunately, didn't have any sort of abilities involving flame, so in that respect, I didn't stand a chance. And unlike Toothless, she couldn't echo locate, at least not to my knowledge, so we had to move fast. The passages of the cave suddenly started to narrow, to the point where I couldn't sit up straight anymore.

"Shriek, flatten."

I swung my legs around and laid flat on Shriek's back, and she let the air out of her body, completely flattening her shape and allowing the both of us to squeeze through. I squinted my eyes as the exit spat sunlight down onto me, and I swung myself back around again as she shot up. I expected to see Hiccup somewhere above the cloud cover, but to my disappointment, I only saw the blue sky. Frustrated, slammed myself back down onto my dragon again. 

"No!"

My eyes darted around again. I needed a win, following that embarrassment. Thankfully, Hookfang and Snotlout flew by above my head. They were an easy catch, especially with how tired Hookfang was. They tried to outfly us, but I managed to catch up. 

"Okay, Hookfang. Let's show 'em who's the true king of the sky! Flames!" A few tiny flames shot out from Hookfang's skin, but he couldn't ignite. He tried again, but no avail. "Uh, Hookfang? I said flame!" I couldn't watch this any longer. I gripped tight onto Shriek with one hand, then had her turn upside down and I smacked Snotlout on his helmet.

"And, out." 

That only left Astrid. I pulled up and waited for a few moments, trying to find her. It took a few moments, but I noticed her laying low, circling around the water on the southern end of the island. My smile returned, and Shriek made a quick dive down toward her. She was within my reach when she and Stormfly suddenly darted out of the way, and thinking fast, I pulled Shriek up and turned her around. Astrid tried her best to fly faster than me, but at the last second, I managed to catch her.

"You're getting faster," I complimented.

"We took a page out of your book." She smiled at me as she flew up to meet the others.

"Wait, you're feeding her chicken?" I flew us back to meet the others, including Hiccup, who I hadn't managed to catch. I pulled myself closer to him and watched as Snotlout screamed at Hookfang, attempting to get him to ignite. However, each time he tried, the only thing that would happen was smoke would come out of his nostrils. Hiccup and I glanced at each other, and with a nod, the two of us flew back toward shore, getting everyone to land so we could further inspect Hookfang. I looked over the dragon with wide, concerned eyes, and as one my hands flew to my necklace, Hiccup reached for the other.

"What? What's the matter with everyone?" Snotlout spat. "Never seen a stubborn dragon before?"

"Snotlout, that wasn't stubbornness," Hiccup corrected. "There's something wrong with Hookfang. He couldn't flame up."

" _No_ , Hookfang didn't _want_ to flame up. There's a difference." I shook my head at his denial. "He was bored with your dumb exercise, and he can flame up whenever he wants."

"Okay... how about now?" Tuffnut challenged. Snotlout looked at the ground for a moment, as though his confidence was wavering, before smirking back up at the rest of us.

"Nah, he doesn't feel like it now." Hiccup and I exchanged a glance.

"Snotlout, we really need to check Hookfang, and we should probably do it now." He lowered his brow at us.

"Fine. Be my guest. But there's nothing wrong with my dragon." He got up onto Hookfang, who somehow managed to get back to the Academy. Immediately, Hiccup and I jumped off our dragons and ran for the Book of Dragons, flipping to the page on Monstrous Nightmares. He started to skim through the part on ailments and began to read them as he looked at Hookfang.

"All right. No fire? Check. Pale coloration? Check." Snotlout began to wring his hands, a clear sign he was growing nervous. "Flaking scales? Check." Hiccup's voice began to waver, and with quiet steps, I came closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"See? He's fine," Snotlout denied. "Checks are good, right?"

"Totally." I couldn't tell whether Tuff was being sarcastic or not.

"Hiccup, any one of those symptoms would not be good. But together..." Fishlegs trailed off. "Really not good."

"So, what are you saying?" he asked as he shut the Book of Dragons.

"According to the Book of Dragons, a Monstrous Nightmare can lose its ability to regenerate flame."

"But why?" I asked, moving around to Hiccup's side.

"Lots of reasons: old age, injury, exhaustion-"

"-pushed too hard by his stubborn rider?" Astrid interjected.

"I heard that. And I always work him this hard. So he's a little low on flame. What the cure?"

"That's the thing with Stoker class dragons. Once they lose their flaming ability, they become completely defenseless."

"What are you saying, Fishlegs?" The tone of Snotlout's voice changed.

"I'm saying Hookfang is in trouble, and we need to do something _now_." I looked from face to face, then crossed my arms against my chest and spoke up.

"Okay, Hiccup and I will try to figure something out, the rest of you go and rest up. _Especially_ you two." I pointed at Snotlout and Hookfang. It looked as though he was going to protest at first, then shut his mouth and allowed Hookfang to walk home with him. 

By the time night had fallen, Hiccup and I hadn't come up with anything. I groaned and slammed my head against his drawing desk, risking smudging charcoal on my face in order to be dramatic. I heard Hiccup chuckle from behind me, so slowly, I sat myself up again.

"I don't get it. There's nothing in the Book of Dragons about healing a Monstrous Nightmare," I sighed. "There has to be something else besides just rest." He sat down on his bed to face me.

"For someone who always complains about Snotlout and how annoying he is, you seem to care a lot about helping him."

"No, correction: I care about Hookfang." I leaned against my arms. "I hate seeing dragons in pain, and even if his rider is obnoxious... Hookfang is no exception." I looked out the window and sighed. It was getting late, and I needed to head home at this point.

"I should probably head back, get some sleep." I stood up from my stool. "We'll reconvene in the morning, see if Fishlegs has any ideas." Hiccup smiled up at me, and I found myself getting flustered. "What?" He hesitated for a moment.

"You- ah, nevermind." I crossed my arms.

"No, tell me!"

"Reign, I said it's nothing!" I laughed, and as soon as he stood, I playfully shoved him. 

"You're so weird." He reached forward to wrap me into a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep. See you then, Haddock." 

I couldn't manage to wipe the smile off my face as I headed home.

The next morning, Hookfang looked worse. He'd nearly lost all of his coloration and barely moved. Hiccup and Snotlout crouched down by the poor dragon, attempting to comfort him while we waited for Fishlegs, who supposedly had found something. The ache in my chest grew as I watched the three of them, pushing me to join the two boys next to Hookfang. As I reached out to pet the Monstrous Nightmare, another hand fell over my own. I didn't have to look over to know it was Hiccup's.

"Don't worry, Snotout. We'll get to the bottom of this," Hiccup assured. "I promise." Snotlout looked at Hiccup with hostility.

"I'm not worried." The way he looked at Hookfang indicated otherwise. He tried his best to hide his sniffles, but he wasn't fooling any of us.

"Whoa, are you crying?" Tuffnut peered around the other side of Snotlout to try and catch a glimpse at his face. "What's that like?"

"Crying?" Snotlout stood and punched Tuffnut in the face, getting him to back off. "That's ridiculous! There's dust... in my eyes..." He couldn't hold himself together. "Can't you see how dusty it is in here, guys?"

"Snotlout, there's nothing wrong with being upset." I smiled at him. "It just means you care." He almost looked sentimental for a moment, but tried his best to shake it off.

"All right, um... let's just pretend for a minute that I did, well, _care_. How would I know? How would you know?"

"Well, you might feel a tightness in your chest, you might get a little shaky, your eyes might get watery..." Everyone looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with dust... for now." As Snotlout and Astrid exchanged a smile, Fishlegs finally arrived, a stack of books and papers in his hands.

"Hiccup! Here's something from the Bork Papers regarding reigniting a Stoker class dragon's flame." Fishlegs presented a piece of paper with Fireworms surrounding a Monstrous Nightmare on it. There were also some strange hexagonal shapes surrounding them, but I had no idea what those were meant to represent.

"Fireworm dragons..."

"Or as Bork referred to them: 'The Flame Eaters'."

"Flame eaters! We should be flame eaters." I tried to shoot the twins a silencing glance, but they ignored it.

"Cool!" Ruff punched her brother again.

"Fireworms are Stoker class dragons, too. There must be something in them that can help reignite the Monstrous Nightmare." Hiccup stood, that spark of an idea in his eyes. "Okay. Reign, the twins, and I will gather up as many Fireworms as we can find. Fishlegs, keep reading."

"What about me?"

"You stay with your dragon." I tried my best to make it sound like a suggestion, but it came out as an order. "He needs you."

"It's part of caring."

The four of us hopped up on our dragons and headed to the rocky part of the island, then split up. The goal was to get every Fireworm on the island, but as many as possible would be good enough. I managed to find a few scurrying around in a cave, and Shriek and I ran our way over to them, attempting to herd them back to Hiccup, who had the fireproof container. Everyone met back up once we'd found as many as we could, and we flew back to Hookfang. Hiccup placed the Fireworms around the dragon's body, but minutes later, nothing changed.

"Nothing," Hiccup sighed. "Well, that might not have worked, but-"

"Maybe he can drink _this_." Tuff stepped forward with a bowl of some liquid in his hands.

"What-What is that?"

"Fireworm milk." Astrid raised an eyebrow at Ruffnut's words.

"Fireworm milk?"

"Um, Tuffnut, I don't think you can actually milk a Fireworm."

"Oh, great. Thanks." He held up a bandaged hand. "Where were you three hours ago?"

"Maybe we need to put the Fireworms on Hookfang," I suggested, "so he can absorb their heat directly." Snotlout grabbed onto my shoulders and started to shake me.

"Yeah, yeah. Good idea, Reign! Direct heat. That makes sense." He finally let go of me. "What are you waiting for?" 

Hiccup went over to his bag and pulled out the pairs of tongs we used to put them around Hookfang and set them down on the dragon's scales. A few minutes in, a small flame ignited behind Hookfang's eyes. Hopeful smiles spread on all our faces.

"It's working." Almost as soon as Snotlout said that, the fire extinguished, and Hookfang went back to his hopeless state. "We need more Fireworms now!" Snotlout raced around, digging through chests and barrels, as though he'd find more of the tiny dragons in there. "Do you hear me? More Fireworms!"

"Snotlout, I think we've rounded up all the Fireworms on Berk." I hated to tell him that, but I couldn't lie to him. Defeated, Snotlout dropped the bucket he was holding with a devastated look on his face.

"Come on!" Everyone diverted their attention to the twins, who were currently trying to hit each other with Fireworms. "You said you wanted to be a flame eater!"

"I did, didn't I? Okay." I shook my head and turned away, looking back down as Hookfang, as though an answer would somehow come to me by staring at the problem. My eyes quickly darted back to Hiccup, who for some reason, couldn't stop staring at the twins and smiling.

"Um, Hiccup? Do you really think now is a good time to be focusing on the twins?"

"It's actually the perfect time." I put my hands up. "They just gave me an idea."

"Whoa. Don't think that'll ever come out of your mouth again." Hiccup approached the pair fighting with Fireworms and placed his hands on their shoulders.

"I-I don't say this often, but you two are geniuses."

"Like we don't know that," Tuffnut scoffed right before the two of them went back to fighting with their Fireworms. Meanwhile, Hiccup gathered all of the Fireworms on Hookfang and put them into his empty lantern. The glow from inside was pretty intense, especially in the daylight.

"What are you doing, Hiccup? Shouldn't you be figuring out how to save _my dragon_?"

"I am." He hoisted up the lantern and held it out for everyone to see. "As Ruff and Tuff so astutly discovered, Fireworms get brighter the closer they are to one another." He held the lantern closer to three stray Fireworms, demonstrating how much brighter they got.

"Wow, that's pretty cool."

"Whoa... We discovered that?"

'Yes. Yes, you did."

"Yes!" The twins rammed their helmets together.

"Oh, yeah!"

"So, if I'm right, the closer we get to more Fireworms..." He waited for the twins to finish his sentence, but they just kept staring off into space. "Come on. Come on, Tuff! Lead us home." They shrugged at each other.

"We'll all burst into flames!" The two of them cheered as though they'd really accomplished something. "Yes!"

"Geniuses!"

"No, actually, the closer we get, the brighter the Fireworms will glow inside this." He held up the lantern.

"Oh. Much less fun than bursting into flames."

"Wait a minute. I thought you said there were no more Fireworms on the island."

"There aren't... on _this_ island." Fishlegs turned to a page in the Book of Dragons, then held it up for everyone to see. "But there are plenty on Fireworm Island."

"Fireworm Island?"

"That's where these little guys are going to lead us." Snotlout cast his gaze over to Hookfang, a sense of hope now growing on his face. He made his way over to his ailing dragon, and for a moment, I thought he was going to comfort him. But instead, he started to try and get him to stand. 

"Come on, Hookfang. You've gotta dig deep." He moved himself under Hookfang's wing and tried to hoist him up. "I know you've got some fight left in you."

With a strained, gargled roar, Hookfang managed to pick himself up. We'd have to keep a close eye on him as we flew, but we might be able to make it before he gave out.

"Okay, gang. We'll meet back up tonight, that way we can see the Fireworms better. For now, everyone needs to rest." I looked over at Snotlout specifically, making sure he wouldn't try and push his dragon too hard.

We'd been flying for hours, and it felt as though we were no closer to finding Fireworm Island than we had been when we started.

"Bank right, bud," Hiccup ordered. He led the group, as usual, and had quite a bit of faith in what we were doing. "It's brighter this way." Everyone followed behind on this wild goose chase, somehow hoping Fireworm Island was just through the cloud cover. Hookfang and Snotlout lagged behind, and each time one of us looked back, they appeared to be getting lower and lower. 

"Are you getting anything?" Astrid asked above the whoosh of the wind.

"No," Hiccup admitted, "nothing yet."

"Hookfang is getting weaker without his flame. I'm afraid he won't be able to fly much longer."

"I know. We don't have much time."

Everyone tried their best to push forward, but the Fireworms didn't change how bright they were glowing, and the further we flew, the further Snotlout and Hookfang fell. It was getting too dangerous for them to keep going.

"Hookfang is losing too much strength. We're gonna have to head back."

"No!" Snotlout protested in his usual stubborn manner. "We have to keep going."

"Fishlegs is right, Snotlout. He's losing too much altitude. It's not safe."

"Come on, boy." Hookfang continued to fall. "Keep fighting!" The pair was getting too close to the cloud layer. We all turned around and dove for them. As much as we wanted to find Fireworm Island, we couldn't risk the safety of Hookfang or Snotlout.

"We should turn back!" Hiccup and Snotlout seemed to have a conversation in their minds, communicating ideas without even saying anything. Everyone turned around and started to head back toward Berk, feeling defeated. We'd have to find another way...

A glow out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I whipped my head around to look at Hiccup, the lantern in his hand looking as though it had the sun inside it. That could only mean Fireworm Island was...

"Guys, look!" The clouds began to clear, revealing an island not far away.

"I-I see it, Fishlegs! That's gotta be it... Fireworm Island." 

Everyone dove down to get closer to the island, the glow in the lantern becoming nearly blinding as we got closer to a cave, tucked away within the rocks, nearly hidden in the darkness.

"They must be inside here." Snotlout and Hookfang managed to land after everyone else, swerving back and forth as though they'd had too much mead. "Snotlout, I think you need to stay behind with Hookfang. Reign and I will bring the Fireworms back." Snotlout took one look down at his dragon, and a sudden, new determination crossed his face as he stood with purpose.

"No. It's my fault, Hiccup. I did this to Hookfang. I'm gonna save him." And with that, he ran toward the cave. Someone had to help the ailing dragon.

"Hiccup, we'll stay behind with Hookfang," I offered. Fishlegs hopped off of Meatlug and crouched down beside Hookfang. 

"You'd better hurry." 

He looked back at us again, as though trying to weigh the consequences, then released the Fireworms from the lantern and allowed them to lead the way. Snotlout hopped up onto Toothless, and the two of them followed the tiny dragons. All of us positioned ourselves in front of Hookfang, ready for whatever could try to come our way. An injured dragon is like a beacon for others to come and attack, not to mention that at any moment, Hookfang could let go. While the others kept their eyes on Hookfang, I couldn't tear mine from the cave. It couldn't be that complicated to gather up a bunch of Fireworms, but still, every situation had its problems.

And ours suddenly came shooting out of the cave.

A Fireworm the size of a normal dragon sudden burst from the rock, looking around as though it were lost for a moment, before looking down at me and roaring. My eyes went wide, and Astrid moved up to stand beside me. 

"Uh, Fishlegs?" I cried. "What is that?"

"That must be the Fireworm Queen. And by the looks of it. she's not happy..."

She roared again and attempted to lunge for us, but before she could even come close, Shriek let out a roar that sent her stumbling back. Stormfly then fired at her, causing her to fly away, looking dazed and confused. Hiccup and Snotlout emerged from another opening, shooting up into the sky.

"We'll handle the queen. You get to Hookfang." The two of them flew away, and Astrid and I began a full assault on the Fireworm Queen. If she got to Hookfang, who knows what she would do. We did our best to keep her cornered, just until Hiccup and Snotlout could help Hookfang get back to normal.

"Can those two go one second without awakening some angry dragon?"

"Nope!" The Fireworm Queen attempted to shoot back at Astrid. "Just keep it going, Astrid! She'll back off eventually."

Unfortunately of us, I was wrong. She instead increased the intensity of her fire, pushing Astrid and I back to the point where we couldn't hit her. The moment she had the change, the Fireworm Queen slunk her way toward Hiccup, Snotlout, and Hookfang.

"Come on!"

Astrid and I landed not far away from the scene, but instead of interfering, we just sort of watched what unfolded. Snotlout kept urging Hookfang to eat some odd hexagonal cylinder- most likely an egg- but he just stared at it as the queen loomed over them. 

"You wanna get to my dragon, you have to go through me!"

"He's an idiot," I muttered, shaking my head and leaning against Shriek's back.

Hookfang, on the other hand, picked up the egg in his mouth and tossed it aside, out of his reach but within the queens. He must've been trying to give back what she was fighting for, and Snotlout- for no other explainable reason other than he's Snotlout- wasn't quite picking up on that.

"Hookfang, what are you doing? You need to eat that!" The poor dragon just laid there, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"Snotlout, he's protecting you," Hiccup said. "He's doing for you what you were willing to do for him."

The Fireworm Queen picked up her egg, and for a moment, it seemed as though she were satisfied, and we'd be able to get on with our lives. We'd have to find yet another way to help Hookfang, but at least for today, we'd be safe.

Then, she roared straight in Hookfang's direction and wrapped her tail around his neck, dangling her in front of his face as though he were nothing but a useless rag doll, ready to be torn apart by a greedy and careless child. 

"Hookfang!"

Her long, forked tongue darted out of her mouth and began to glow, and before any of us could shoot at her and try to save Hookfang, she pierced the ends into his scales. They stuck straight through, like hot prongs, and with a final, defeated roar, Hookfang's eyes rolled back, then fluttered shut. I wanted to tear my gaze away from the scene, but at the same time, it was like I'd been glued to it. Hookfang couldn't be... but it certainly looked like he was. 

Snotlout attempted to run to his dragon, but the Fireworm Queen smacked him out of the way with her wing, not even bothering to cast him a glance as she did.

"Hiccup!"

He and Toothless shot themselves into the air and hovered around the Fireworm Queen, roaring until she released her grip on Hookfang and slithered back. Seizing his chance, Snotlout ran to his dragon's side and knelt down, as though his presence could somehow reverse all of this.

"Hookfang..." He didn't move.

"Oh, no."

His breathing came raspy, sounding as though he were reaching out to his last leg of life, desperately attempting to cling on. His eyes barely opened, not strong enough to gaze at his own rider before...

Snotlout placed a hand between Hookfang's nostrils and pet him gently, allowing tears to spill freely from his eyes this time.

"I'm right here with you. You're not just another sword, Hookfang."

_Uh, what?_

Snotlout's head only remained bowed for a moment before he began to look over his dragon, tears suddenly drying.

"Huh, that's weird. He's really hot."

Then, slowly, the red coloration Hookfang normally sported began to crawl over him, starting at his head until it reached the very end of his body. As it moved on, Hookfang began to stand up again, looking as though his strength returned. We all stared at him in awe. How could this have happened? 

Hookfang shook his head, then fully ignited himself and let out a triumphant cry.

"Hookfang, you're back!" The dragon doused his fire and nuzzled his head into his rider's hands.

"His skin... the gel, it's regenerating!"

"Her venom must've started it up again," Hiccup pieced together. "She saved him!"

The Fireworm Queen stood on her hind legs and roared, then Hookfang did the same-- a sign of mutual respect. Satisfied, she turned in the air and flew back into her cave, where she could hopefully put that egg back. Astrid and Stormfly approached Snotlout, a smirk on her face.

"Hey, looks like you got some dust in your eyes," she teased.

"Yeah, I did," he 'admitted' as he wiped them. "Stupid dust."

With Hookfang fulled healed, all of us were able to return to Berk with light hearts and eased minds. The next morning, we all gathered on a sea stack for the next round of evasive training. Well, everyone but Snotlout, who was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?" Astrid grunted.

"Why are we always waiting for him?"

Our annoyance seemed to summon him, as right after Fishlegs finished his question, the two of them flew over to us.

"There he is." The pair landed in front of Hiccup. "Okay, good. We're all here. Snotlout, you and Hookfang are the evil dragon this time." Snotlout reached down to pat his dragon.

"Actually, I thought we'd sit this one out. Maybe go on a nice flight, take in the sights. I just wanna make sure that he's well rested."

"I thought your dad says rest is for the weak," Astrid challenged.

"Turns out, my dad knows absolutely nothing about dragons." Hiccup and I exchanged a glance, smirking. "I just want to take it easy until Hookfang is back to his old self."

Hookfang tossed Snotlout into the air, then shot up, ignited himself, and caught his rider.

"Okay, good. Back to his old self. Shall we?"

All of us hopped on our dragons and took off, ready for a well deserved, peaceful flight.

Well, mostly peaceful. Couldn't say much for Snotlout and Hookfang. But, as much as they got on our nerves, we needed them, just as much as anyone else.


	26. (Hiccup)

Reign leaned against one of the walls of the Academy, refusing to take her eyes off of Astrid as she ceaselessly drove her axe into targets. Today's training was a big deal for Astrid, and unfortunately for all of us, that meant she was a little on edge. She let out a cry and she penetrated the next red and white victim, refusing to break her focus.

"You want some of this?" She yanked out her weapon and just drove it into the next target. "That's right. Who's next?" And then, disconcertingly, she looked straight at us.

"I'm pretty sure that you-" Reign stopped for a second, as though attempting to collect her thoughts. "Yep, I think you got them. _All_ of them." Her eyes darted around to survey the carnage. I knew she was worried about Astrid, especially recently. All of us were.

"Astrid's been killing inanimate objects all day," Fishlegs informed us.

"She's really wound up about the Flightmare," I sighed.

"Too bad she's wasting her time." We all glared at Snotlout as he wandered over to us. "When the Flightmare comes, the Hoffersons freeze. Right, Astrid? I mean, you are a-" She threw her axe just to the left of him, burying itself in the stone instead of his head. "-Hofferson."

Quickly, Reign stepped up and attempted to diffuse the situation.

"Okay, okay, let's take a deep breath. Just because Aurvandil's Fire is coming, doesn't mean the Flightmare is, too."

"Sure it does. Every ten years, the sky lights up with Aurvandil's Fire, and when it does, the Flightmare appears," Fishlegs explained. "Its spectral glow and banshee like scream are unmistakable."

"You were saying?" Astrid snapped, her glare bouncing back and forth between Reign and I. It's like she didn't want anyone to keep her sane.

"Thank you, Fishlegs," Reign sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Your extensive knowledge of the Flightmare is... timely, if nothing else."

"I _do_ fancy myself to be Berk's leading authority on the subject. Here's a few more fun facts."

I shook my head as Fishlegs opened up the Book of Dragons. The last thing we needed was to encourage Astrid, or anger her any more than she already was. I hadn't been close friends with her as long as Reign had, but I knew just how crazy she could be. That was one thing they had in common: once their minds were made up, nothing could divert them from their intentions.

In some ways, she really was a Hofferson. Even if her bloodline said otherwise.

"Legend has it that the Flightmare is so terrifying, it actually freezes its prey in their tracks."

"Yeah, just ask Frozen Finn Hofferson. Right, Astrid?" 

She let out a loud yell, then grabbed onto Snotlout and slammed him to the ground, planting her foot on his face to keep him from being able to move.

"You think it's funny, Snotlout?" She swung her axe dangerously close to Snotlout's face. "You think it's a joke that my family name was ruined by that dragon?"

"Well, I used to, just a couple of minutes ago, but now I can see how it might be upsetting you."

Everyone, including Snotlout, turned to stare at the twins as they brought a wheelbarrow filled with tomatoes into the Academy.

"Have you guys heard? The Flightmare is coming." Reign stepped out in front of Astrid, attempting to block her from the twins' view, which provided a barrier between the groups if Astrid decided to strike.

"Uh, guys, we're really trying not to talk about that."

"Hate to break it to you, but that's the only thing anyone's talking about."

"Well, that and Astrid's uncle."

"Hey!" Snotlout's voice was muffled by the boot crushing his mouth. "Have a little sensitivity here! Can I get up now?" Reluctantly, Astrid removed her foot from his face and allowed him to stand.

"Ugh. Whatever."

She ran over to Stormfly and flew away from the Academy. Reign cast me a worried glance, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. Before the two of us left, she turned to face the rest of the group, visibly annoyed.

"So thanks a lot, guys," she deadpanned.

"No problem. If you don't need us anymore, we have to get ready for the end of the world , so, see ya!" Ruff jumped into the cart, and Tuff wheeled her into the cage where the Monstrous Nightmare had once been held.

Having dealt with everything, Reign took off after Astrid, and I thought it best to follow her. She needed support for things like this. I followed close behind her as the sun set, and we found her tending to Stormfly. That worried look crossed her face again, and as my heart jumped, I reached out and squeezed her hand. For a moment, a smile returned to her face, until she glanced back at the girl she considered her sister. Astrid briefly glanced over her shoulder, looking at the two of us before going back to adjusting Stormfly's saddle.

"I don't want to hear it, Reign. I've waited my entire life for a chance to clear my family's name, and you're not going to stop me." 

"Who said anything about stopping you?" Astrid turned and glared at Reign before Stormfly got up, and the two of them started walking away. "Okay, Astrid, I have to stop you." Sighing, Reign turned and looked at me, her expression changing to a sheepish one. "You're going to hate me for saying this, but if she's going, I'm going, too." I ran after her as she moved to follow Astrid.

"Look, nobody loves a new and terrifying dragon more than I do." I stepped out in front of the two of them. "But I need you guys here on Berk. If that thing does show up, it's gonna take all of us to fight it off."

"Not if it never gets here," Astrid fired back.

"Come on, Hiccup. Don't tell me you haven't been dreaming about the Flightmare: going after it, learning about it-- training it."

"You know, Reign, training dragons isn't the only thing I think about." I watched her expression change several times as she attempted not to laugh at me.

"Are you actually saying that to me with a straight face?" I tried my best to come up with something to fire back at her, but she knew me too well. Before I could say something else to her, Fishlegs ran up behind me, shouting.

"Hiccup!" He waved a rolled parchment in his hand. "I did the research you asked for." 

"Uh, not now, Fishlegs."

"Oh, no..." Reign muttered.

"But I have the path of the Flightmare right here on this map. For generations, it's gone through the northern swamp on the way to the village-- same route every time. If I could only figure out why, we might be able to stop it."

"Fishlegs, Astrid doesn't want to talk about the Flighmare." I really hoped he'd take a hint and leave, before she got too much information.

"Sure she does."

"Sure I do."

"See? So, as I was saying, if want to get close to it, you have to be stealthy; virtually invisible in the dark."

"Kind of like a Night Fury?" Astrid looked at Toothless with a smirk on her face, while Reign began to cringe, realizing the craziness she'd chosen to support.

"Exactly like a Night Fury."

Well, there was no talking Astrid out of it at this point. And if Astrid was going, that meant Reign would go, and as much as I trusted her to be able to defend herself, the Flightmare was a dangerous dragon, and I wanted to be there to protect her. Besides, she had no idea how to fly Toothless, neither of them did.

"So, when do we leave?"

Offering that 'I'm sorry' smile, Reign got closer to me and placed a hand on my arm. 

"I know this is a really stupid idea, but I can't just let her go." I let out a long sigh, but I knew there was no changing her mind. "Look, the moment it gets to intense, I'll grab her and we'll get out of there, okay?" Finally, I caved.

"We'll go as soon as it gets dark." She smiled at me, then suddenly leaned forward to kiss my cheek. I felt my face turn bright red, and I smiled at her retreating figure as she ran to get ready to defend us.

Soon as Gobber announced that Aurvandil's Fire had arrived, the three of us- somehow squeezed onto Toothless- took off. Reign wrapped her arms tighter than usual around my waist, and a part of me started to worry about her as Toothless took off.

"Okay. We are going to _observe_ the Flightmare, Astrid," I called back. "We're going to see what we can learn about it and try to redirect it. If we can't, we are falling back to town. Understand?"

"Sure." Apparently, that wasn't good enough for Reign. 

"Say the words 'I understand, Hiccup'," she pushed.

"Fine. I understand, Hiccup."

"Well that just instills me with confidence," I sighed. "There's the northern swamp." From below us, a distinct roar shot up. "Uh, sounds like we're getting close."

"Good. I can't wait to see this thing." Toothless dove down toward the swamp, and from the horizon, and unearthly, blue glow peered over the horizon.

"Uh, you won't have to wait long! Remember, observe only!"

The Flightmare seemed to sense our presence, and came up from its spot, spreading its wings to make itself appear larger, and although it didn't need it, more intimidating. As the light spread over us, our eyes involuntarily slammed shut, and Toothless dove closer to the ground, allowing him to turn around and head in the other direction.

"Okay. Well, it certainly lives up to the hype."

Suddenly, Astrid slid herself off of Toothless, landing on the ground a few feet below us.

"Astrid, what are you doing?" Reign screamed.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Sorry, Hiccup." Reign jumped from Toothless' back and rolled to land next to Astrid.

"Defending Berk, and my family honor! We'll see who's a coward!"

Quickly, I circled Toothless around and flew back toward where Reign and Astrid had landed. They came back into view just as Reign pushed Astrid out of the way, and the Flightmare shot some sort of mist from its mouth before flying away. She suddenly began to seize up, and all of a sudden, it looked as though she couldn't move.

The Flightmare had frozen her.

"Reign!" Astrid raced over to her side and yanked on her arms, but Reign couldn't move.

At the same time Toothless and I dove, the Flightmare went down and attempted to snatch up its frozen victim. It intensified the glow of its body, causing Toothless and I to flinch and abruptly land on the ground. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I lunged forward and threw myself over Reign, protecting her from the Flightmare. It roared again, barreling straight for us, and I knew we had to get out of here. Astrid hopped back up onto Toothless, and I wrapped my arms around Reign's waist and dragged her up onto my dragon, wrapping her arms around my waist so she wouldn't fall off as we shot up. The Flightmare chased us until we ducked into the cloud cover, and after a few minutes of searching, it turned and headed in the other direction.

"I think we lost him," I sputtered, slightly out of breath and still panicking from what happened to Reign.

Toothless landed back on the ground, and I immediately turned around and began to shake Reign. She couldn't be stuck like this. Please, Thor, she couldn't.

Thankfully, the glow from the mist that encased her started to fade, and she held a hand to her head as she shook it.

"What happened?" she looked from Astrid to myself, completely lost. 

"The Flightmare sprayed you with some kind of mist. It paralyzed you."

"It... froze me," she muttered, looking around.

"I guess the good news is the effects are only temporary-- just long enough for it to strike."

"I knew my uncle wasn't afraid of that dragon." Reign leaned against me as the two of us turned to look at Astrid. At least she'd gotten her answers. "He was paralyzed by it."

That dragon had paralyzed Reign, and plenty of other people before her. This dragon was dangerous, and we had to keep it away from Berk. As long as that dragon followed the same path, it would keep wreaking havoc on Berk. We needed to figure out why it came to Berk, and figure out a way to get it to go somewhere else. I pulled Toothless up into the air and began to scan the ground.

"And, let me guess? We're falling back to town?"

"No. We're following the Flightmare. We are the only thing between that dragon and Berk." Astrid cheered, meanwhile Reign leaned her head against my shoulder, and I heard her whimper slightly. 

The Flightmare dove over a large stack of rocks, and our eyes widened as a set of streams wove through the land before us. The only way we could see that stream was because something in it glowed bright blue, casting light up onto us. Whatever caused that water to glow must attract the Flightmare.

"Okay... what in the name of Thor?"

"It's kind of beautiful," Reign whispered, "but in an eerie sort of way."

"But what is it?"

"Glowing algae." I glanced back at Reign, slightly impressed. I moved Toothless to land beside the stream, and the three of us hopped off of him. Reign clearly was still shaken up about what happened, because her hand immediately slipped into mine, and she gripped it tighter than usual. She reached into the water with her free hand and allowed it to filter through. "The glow must be some sort of reaction to Aurvandil's Fire." We looked up into the glowing green sky, watching the ribbons dance across their blank canvas.

"This must be what the Flightmare is following." Reign and I stood. "That's why it always takes the same path to the village."

"Mmm... not getting it." Astrid shook her head.

"You ever try to get between Snotlout and a bowl of mutton?" I chuckled at Reign's comparison.

"Yeah. That's something you only do once." 

The hiss of the Flightmare echoed from not far away, and I quickly pushed Reign behind a rock, hiding her from the Flightmare's gaze as Astrid dove down to our right. Carefully, the three of us poked our heads up from behind our hiding spot, and watched as the Flightmare drank water from the glowing streams.

"Oh, I get it! The Flightmare thinks we want its food." The blue glow of the dragon brightened as it swallowed down the algae.

"It attacks because it sees us as a threat to its very survival."

Finished with its meal, the Flightmare took to the sky once again, screeching right in our direction.

"And speaking of threats..." The three of us backed up, hoping we were enough in the shadows to lose the dragon.

"Quick, we need to get Toothless up in the air so we can hide." Reign looked to our right, and her eyes went wide.

"Yeah, don't think that's gonna happen." She pointed past me, and when my eyes rested on Toothless, I sighed. He'd been drinking the water from the stream, and thus, now began to glow a dark blue.

"Oh, Toothless."

Despite our cover being blown, we all decided to try and steer Toothless into the cloud cover. Maybe it would be thick enough that the Flightmare wouldn't be able to see us.

"You think we lost him?" Reign panted. Just as the words fell from her mouth, the Flightmare burst through the clouds and roared at us. 

"Nope."

Toothless dove back toward the ground, but the Flightmare caught onto what we were trying to do and cut us off, intensifying its glow in hopes of blinding us. Toothless completely lost control, and began to plummet quickly toward the rock below us.

"Toothless!"

Somehow, when we made impact, no one got injured, but we didn't lose the Flightmare, either. It dove straight for us, and I watched as it opened its mouth to spray that mist.

"Toothless, roll!" He did as told, moving out of the way just in time to avoid being paralyzed. He then fired several plasma blasts in the direction of the Flightmare, but none of them managed to strike the dragon. "Toothless!" I rushed to his side and placed my hands on him, attempting to get him to stop firing. The Flightmare lowered itself down onto our level and roared, looking as though it were ready to lunge straight for Toothless.

"Hey!" 

A rock suddenly struck the side of the Flightmare's head, diverting its attention to Astrid. Immediately, it attempted to grab her, but she managed to roll out of the way before it could touch her.

"Astrid!" Reign practically yanked me up onto Toothless, and as the Flightmare sprayed some of its mist onto the ground, we swooped in and managed to get her before the potential paralysis did. "Hiccup, look!" I followed Reign's point- again- to a cave in the rock formation ahead of us. We dove in and immediately banked right, fooling the Flightmare into thinking we flew straight. Once the coast was clear, Toothless slowly crept out from his hiding place, and the blue glow from the algae began to fade.

"At least the glow wears off. Toothless, sky!" We came back out of the cave and headed for a point as close to the cloud cover as possible, which would hopefully keep us hidden as we followed the Flightmare back toward the glowing streams.

"Okay, how do we stop the Flightmare before it reaches the village?" Astrid asked. I glanced behind me, then noticed another dragon and her rider heading right for us.

"Fishlegs," I declared with a smile.

"How's he gonna help?" Reign spat.

"By bringing you some reinforcements!" Reign nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, but her posture relaxed when she saw Fishlegs had brought Stormfly and Shriek along with him.

"Stormfly!"

"There's my girl." The two of them jumped off of Toothless and sat on the backs of their own dragons.

"Fishlegs, the Academy's supposed to be on lockdown," I scolded.

"I know, but I was following the stream because I think I've figured out a way to stop the Flightmare from reaching town." He pointed down to the water, and I caught on.

"We cut a new channel for the river..."

"...and divert the flow of glowing algae out to the sea."

"Exactly. Toothless, Shriek, Stormfly, Meatlug, it's time to do a little emergency landscaping."

"I'll keep the Flightmare from attacking you guys," Reign suddenly offered. "Shriek really won't be able to do much in terms of cutting a new channel." I blinked at her a few times, a million disastrous scenarios running through my head.

"Reign-"

"Too late! You know there's no changing my mind." She pulled Shriek ahead to lead the charge as we followed the Flightmare's path.

"A real, live Flightmare! It's-it's-it's-"

"It's mine." Astrid dove down to get closer to the dragon and pulled in front of it to cut it off. Before it could even register what she'd done, Stormfly fired straight into its face.

"I swear to Thor..." Reign muttered, pinching the spot where her freckles arched over the bridge of her nose. She moved Shriek to hover beside Astrid and had her scream at the Thunderdrum, knocking it back. With the two of them keeping the Flightmare occupied, Fishlegs and I had just enough time to get this done.

"Okay, bud. Time for us to do what we came here for."

Fishlegs and I dove closer to the land, and Toothless began shooting plasma blasts into the solid ground, beginning to open up a new path for the water. The glow traveled down toward the sea, while Fishlegs and Meatlug blocked the original channel so that the glow heading toward Berk would fade.

Unfortunately for us, the girls could only keep the Flightmare distracted for so long, and the second it caught a glance at what Meatlug and Fishlegs were doing, it dove for them.

"That a girl, Meatlug!" The Flightmare now hovered in front of them, staring them down for a moment as though attempting to assess whether they were a legitimate threat or not, before spraying Fishlegs with the paralyzing mist and knocking him from the back of his dragon.

"Hiccup, the Flightmare got Fishlegs!" Astrid called. She and Reign dove and continued to keep the Flightmare at bay, while Toothless and I rushed down to pick up the frozen Fishlegs and drop him back onto Meatlug. His paralysis seemed to not last as long as Reign's, as he quickly came to.

"What just happened to me?"

"The Flightmare, it's mist temporarily paralyzes you."

"Thank Thor. I need my legs. They're in my name, after all."

We landed and continued to fire at the ground, opening the channel to spread the water closer and closer to the sea.

"Look out!"

Reign suddenly emerged from the bushes and lept onto Toothless and the Flightmare chased her down. Astrid and Stormfly managed to get into the air and join us, along with Shriek, whom Reign dove back onto the second she was close enough.

"Okay, guys. We need to keep cutting that channel."

The Flightmare pulled in front of the new cut in the land and hovered over it.

"But the Flightmare is guarding it."

"I think I have a way to distract it." We all looked at Reign, ready to hear her solution. "The algae. Let's give the Flightmare a taste of its own medicine."

"Reign, lead the way." 

We dove for a section of the stream far enough away from the Flightmare that it wouldn't see us at first, and allowed the dragons to drink the water as we flew over it.

"Time for a little midnight snack."

"Chow down, guys."

Once we got back into the air, the dragons began to light up. Toothless kept that same blue glow, Stormfly turned a triumphant yellow, Meatlug a green that matched that of Aurvandil's Fire, and Shriek a bright white, like the stars piercing through the night sky.

"I always knew that was our color," Fishlegs cheered. "I'm gonna knit you a matching blanket when we get home, Meatlug."

"Does anyone want to explain to me why I look like Odin's beard ate that algae?" We all laughed at Reign's question. "No, seriously, why are you guys colorful and we're not?"

"Okay, it's time to see who the real coward is."

We all took our place behind the Flightmare, and the moment it turned around, we all flew closer together, shooting a blinding light straight at it, It dove in an attempt to get away, but we each took a side, trapping it between the four of us. Confused, it collapsed onto the dirt and flailed.

"Toothless, let's finish off that channel." We sped along the line of glow we'd already created, and once we were close enough, Toothless fired one last plasma blast that end the glowing water spilling out into the sea below. The Flightmare took to the sky and looked around for a moment, then dove toward the new direction the water flowed in, heading out to sea.

"We did it!" I let out a sigh of relief as its glow faded.

"Not let's get home before anyone notices we're gone." 

Our dragons, still aglow, took off into the night sky, and we headed back toward the village.

"I never got an answer to my question," Reign huffed, playfully glaring at all of us. I looked at the other two before carefully resting my gaze on her.

"Um, you absorbed every single color?"

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" She flew Shriek in closer to me, and I flinched in fear she was reaching out to punch me. But, instead, she rested a hand on mine, and didn't move it until Berk came into view. From below, I could see Gobber and my dad standing their ground, and the alarm shot through the village.

"Okay, so they think we're the Flightmare..."

Thankfully, they both quickly seemed to realize we weren't the same color as the wild dragon, and they allowed us to land safely.

"Hiccup, slap me in the face," Gobber requested the moment our dragons touched the ground. "Your dragons are glowing. I must still be dreaming."

"Gobber, you're wide awake," I chuckled as the four of us dismounted, "and they are glowing. Long story. The good news is we drove the Flightmare away." My father's eyes went wide, and I swore I saw a smile underneath his beard. 

"You did?" He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Well done, Hiccup. Well done. Everyone, you can come out of your homes! The Flightmare is gone for good." Doors quickly opened, and people murmured amongst each other as they gathered around us.

"Uh, excuse me? I have an announcement to make." Everyone focused their attentions on me. "We learned a lot about the Flightmare tonight, and I'll explain it all to you, but the most important thing we learned was that Fearless Finn Hofferson was indeed fearless." I looked back at the two girls behind me, and although Astrid was the only Hofferson by blood, I couldn't take my eyes off of Reign. "Just like all the Hoffersons." I watched as she blushed and looked down at her shoes, then nudged Astrid with her elbow and smiled at her.

"Sounds like you did your uncle proud, lass," Gobber said as he approached Astrid. Reign, meanwhile, made her way over to me and rested her head against my shoulder, looking up at the green ribbons in the sky. 

"Now maybe we can just enjoy Aurvandil's Fire." I smiled down at the girl leaning against me when an idea came to me.

"Or, we could enjoy a nice flight under it? Just like-"

"-the first time I rode on Toothless," she finished. "I'd love to."

"I want a glowing dragon," Tuffnut proclaimed as he and Ruff landed Barf and Belch from... wherever they had been. 

"Yeah, me too."

"Put that on Snotlout's list."

"I don't even want to know," Reign muttered as I led her over to Toothless and we took off. 

Once he was steady in the sky, I turned my head around and smiled, then kissed the only thing more beautiful than the lights above us.


	27. (Reign)

My eyes darted around as the large figure of Snotlout and Hookfang twirled two circles in the air, then dove straight down toward the water. He reached down for a cloth dummy floating in a dinghy we'd sent adrift a few moments early, and for a split second, I actually believed Snotlout might have been able to pull off a successful rescue training mission. Then, rather than landing back on the sea stack where the rest of us were waiting, he looped up around with Hookfang.

"You know, I hate to admit it," Hiccup sighed, "but Snotlout actually looks like he worked on his rescue training."

Just as he finished saying that, Hookfang took a hard dive straight down into the sea.

"Uh, let's not get ahead of ourselves," I scoffed.

The two of them managed to come back up with the rest of us and land safely on the rock. Snotlout held the dummy up, a satisfied smirk on his face as though he'd actually done something right.

"Another victim saved." The head of the dummy broke off from the rest of the body and rolled onto the stack below us. Snotlout let out a surprised scream and threw the dummy to meet the rest of its body.

"Yeah, you got the victim part right," Fishlegs teased.

"Shut up, Fishlegs. Big deal, so its head fell off. It's not like he's on fire or anything."

Hookfang seemed to take that as a command, because he opened his mouth and spat flame onto the decapitated dummy, then immediately jumped on it and stomped to attempt and extinguish the flame. He slowly turned around, and Fishlegs began to open his mouth to shoot back some well thought out insult.

"Shut up, Fishlegs."

"Okay, who's up next?" Hiccup shouted, trying to divert everyone's attention away from the two boys' bickering. "Astrid? Stormfly?" A smirk crossed my blonde friend's face.

"Sure, why not?"

The two of them went around the side of the sea stack and floated down to the bottom of it. Hiccup and I made our way over to the other side of the cliff to watch as she executed the exercise she and Stormfly had been working on. Her dragon shot spines from her tail in two rows, and Astrid began to use them as hand holds to get up the rock. According to the sundial, she made it up in an astonishing three minutes.

"Great work, Astrid," I complimented, smiling at her.

"Great work?" Snotlout blew an raspberry. "Try lame work. Hello? Flying dragon? Might be a little quicker to get to the top of the sea stack."

"What if your victim is trapped on the side of the cliff and your dragon can't get me close enough? You ever think of that?"

"Yes. No." He turned his head away from the rest of us. "Shut up, Astrid."

"Okay. So, uh, Fishlegs, looks like you're up."

Without a word, he tapped Meatlug's neck twice and pointed up. She spread her little wings and began to flap them, causing them to suddenly shoot high into the air. 

"I call this the stop, drop-" He twirled his arm around, and Meatlug suddenly plummeted down, only stopping a few inches about the sea stack. Panicking, Hookfang tossed Snotlout from his back, causing him to land right where Fishlegs and Meatlug were heading. "-and hover!"

"I like it, Fishlegs," Hiccup declared.

"Oh, come on. That's not rescuing, that's falling."

"Actually, this is falling." Meatlug suddenly collapsed on top of Fishlegs, completely smothering the Viking underneath them.

"Hookfang, rescue." I could barely hear him underneath the hulking dragon. Hookfang decided to dive off the sea stack instead of helping his rider. Shaking his head, Hiccup turned to the twins. 

"Okay. Guys? You wanna show us your rescue skill now?"

"Sure." The two of them gripped the horns of Barf and Belch tighter, and remained perfectly still. We all waited for a few moments, hoping they'd do something, but instead, they just stayed there, acting as though they were statues.

"So... let's see it."

"Uh, you _are_ seeing it."

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Our rescue skill is not falling off this sea stack. That way, no actual rescue is necessary."

"Ta-da!" Ruffnut shot her arms out, knocking her brother off of their dragon and sending him plummeting into the water below. "We're still working out the kinks," she informed us as Tuff splashed into the sea.

"All right then." He turned to look at Shriek and I. "You two got something that can beat that?" 

"I don't know, man," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "That was pretty impressive."

I tugged lightly on Shriek, and she flew a few inches in the air, then completely flattened herself out.

"You may want to follow us on this one." 

Hiccup nodded and came behind us in a loose follow. Shriek made her way closer to a set of sea stacks knit closer together. Once we were nearly there, I swung my legs around and laid completely flat, gripping onto her large figure with my arms and legs. She quickly twisted side to side, dodging back and forth between the sea stacks. Once we reached the end of the row, Shriek immediately re-inflated and shot herself up, then dove straight to the others and landed gracefully. A few seconds later, Hiccup and Toothless landed beside us, and I turned to look at him, beaming. It didn't take that long for me to teach Shriek that. She either picks up on things very quickly, or I was just a great trainer.

"Very impressive, Reign."

"Shriek's ability to deflate herself comes in serious handy. It's one of my favorite parts about her." I scratched the under part of her chin. "Okay, it's your turn."

Hiccup and Toothless took flight and headed toward the targets they'd set up- or rather forced me to help him set up- when we'd first gotten here. 

"Okay, Toothless. Barrel roll! Multiple blasts!"

Toothless began to quickly spin as they made a beeline straight for the wooden figures. He fired three shots from his mouth, and every single one hit the targets on the first shot. 

"Wow..." everyone marveled as they landed. It was a little simpler, but would prove to be useful in many situations, not just rescues.

"Stop 'ooh'-ing!" Snotlout shouted. "That's not even a rescue skill!"

"Of course it is. We always need cover fire during a rescue. Everyone knows that. Very impressive, Hiccup."

"Fishlegs, you need some help getting your nose out of Hiccup's-"

"Snotlout!" Hiccup quickly interjected, cutting him off.

"It's okay, Hiccup. He's just mad because he came dead last in the rescue mission." Hiccup and I exchanged a glance as I approached him, both of us raising an eyebrow. We'd never planned on this being a competition.

"Uh, guys, this isn't a competition," Hiccup clarified.

"Uh, yes it is," Tuff protested.

"You know, they say competition is the very essence of life itself." Everyone went silent, staring at the twins in that way when at least one person thought they were right, but no one wanted to be the first to admit it.

"She's right. Weird that she said it like that, but it's true. It's always a competition." I couldn't believe Astrid.

"We are a team. Everyone has a role. No one person is better, or more important, than another." Hiccup had said that before, but this time, I hoped it stuck. These guys were gonna tear each other apart at this rate.

Unfortunately, everyone looked at us with unamused expressions before bursting into laughter.

"You don't really buy that, do you?"

"I do, actually. Yes."

"Wait, do you all feel the way Snotlout does?"

"Uh, Hiccup, you ride Toothless, a Night Fury." Fishlegs' observation wasn't anything I didn't already know. "And Night Furies top the charts for intelligence, speed, accuracy, and, well, everything." Meatlug let out a protesting growl. "No offense, girl."

"Wanna know what I think?"

"No!" everyone cried. 

"I think we'll never know who the best dragon trainer is because we don't have a level playing field." Despite the fact I still didn't think this was a competition, Snotlout had a point.

"Hang on a second. What if we _did_ have a level playing field?" I shook my head. I couldn't believe they were really going through this. "What if we could prove once and for all who's going the skills, and who doesn't?"

"Trust me, Fishlegs. You don't want that."

"Oh, I think I do." I sighed and shook my head, leaning against Toothless.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I sighed. "If it'll shut you all up, maybe we should just get this over with." I slid myself up onto Shriek. "We should be heading back anyways."

"Agreed. Let's head home, everyone."

Hiccup and I allowed everyone else to fly ahead of us. He came over and reached over for my hand. 

"You think they're still gonna be like this in, like, three years?" I sighed, looking over at him with a sad smile.

"I want to say no, but I'd be lying to you." I groaned and leaned my head back. 

"How are we gonna deal with this forever?" I shouted, hoping the others in front of us didn't hear me.

"Slowly and painfully." I couldn't help but laugh.

The sun was beginning to set when we made our way back to Berk and Fishlegs summoned us to the Academy. A little, wooden crate sat at his feet. He carefully removed the lid, and a small, green Terrible Terror curiously poked its head out.

"Terrible Terrors?" Snotlout questioned. "This is your level playing field?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. We'll all choose a Terrible Terror and have a day to train it, and then we'll find out who's best." Snotlout burst into mocking laughter.

"Oh, man. I can't keep a straight face."

"I fail to see the humor, Snotlout."

"No, you guys the point of all of this is-" Hiccup didn't get to finish his sentence.

"You don't have a chance to win this, Fish-face. And you wanna know why? Because there are readers, and there are doers, and while you've got your nose buried in the Book of Dragons, I'm out there kicking names and taking butt." I snickered at Snotlout's error before deciding to point it out.

"I think you meant that the other way around."

"I mean..." He gesticulated in silence for a moment. "Shut up, Reign." 

"Guys, come on," Hiccup sighed.

"I'll tell you what, Snotlout. You're so confident in your dragon training superiority, why don't we make this interesting?"

"All ears."

"This cannot end well," I muttered, leaning closer to Hiccup.

"Losers clean the winner's stall... for a month."

"Done."

"In," Astrid chimed in. The twins rammed their helmets together, their own sign of agreement.

"Come on. We're not really going to do this, are we?" I hoped I would get the chance to diffuse this situation.

"You better strap on your helmet, because this guy right here is bringing the pain." Snotlout went to reach for one of the yellow Terrible Terrors, but instead, the purple one clamped its teeth down on his arm, forcing him to pick it. "Guess I'll take this one. Bringing the pain..." The others reached in to pick theirs, leaving a green and a blue Terrible Terror.

"Dang it. I kind of wanted the purple one," I admitted, glancing at Hiccup before reaching in and taking the blue dragon. Almost immediately, he crawled up onto my shoulder and fell asleep, leaning against my cheek.

"Remember! Not a competition!" Hiccup called to the others. "This is really gonna go bad in a hurry."

"I, as usual, will be opting out of the competition." Hiccup turned around, and his eyes went wide. "How-How did you get him to bond with you that quickly?" I shrugged and reached up to scratch his belly.

"Not a clue. He just kind of did that." Cautiously, Hiccup reached out and tried to pet my Terrible Terror. But as soon as his hand got close, the tiny dragon snapped at him, trying to keep him away. Hiccup reeled back in surprise, and I laughed at his expression. "Wow."

"He's a protective little guy, huh?"

"I guess so." Since he couldn't without risking the safety of his nose, I leaned forward and kissed Hiccup's cheek. Red began to creep up from his neck, overwhelming his whole face before he found the ability to stutter something out.

"What-what was that for?"

"I don't know. Just felt right." Eyeing my Terrible Terror, he reached out and grabbed my hand. He relaxed for a second as he came to my side, then the Terrible Terror scurried over to my other shoulder and glared him down.

"I'm never gonna catch a break, am I?"

"I thought we made that clear before the Terrible Terror showed up."

Hiccup shook his head and tugged me along behind him. The sun completely disappeared when we got back the village, and I stared as we passed by Fishlegs' house. The door had been left wide open, and inside, Meatlug sulked in the corner while Fishlegs focused all of his attention on his Terrible Terror.

"I am gonna crush him in the dragon training competition," I heard him gloat. Shaking my head, I took the lead and marched into Fishlegs' house.

"It's not a competition, Fishlegs," I sighed. He completely ignored me, and I turned to Hiccup for help, shooting him a pleading look.

"Listen, I of all people know how Snotlout has a way of getting under your skin. I just wanna make sure you're not losing perspective in all of this."

"Oh, Deathwing and I? No, we don't plan on losing anything." I raised my eyebrows. This was a different Fishlegs, one I didn't like. 

"Uh, D-Deathwing?"

"Or Iggy. We're not sure yet, what do you like?" I focused back on Meatlug, seeing her laying down by the fire and snuggling up to a sheep. Her eyes were downcast, and she looked as though she couldn't even manage to wag her tail.

"Is Meatlug okay?" I asked, pointing toward her. 

"Of course, why wouldn't she be?" He didn't at all sound convincing. Toothless made his way over to Meatlug, nuzzling her as though trying to get her to cheer up. Shriek jumped around a little bit, being her goofy self.

"Okay, well... good talk." We walked over to the doorway and turned to look back at the dragons. "Come on, guys." I spoke up once we were out of earshot.

"Fishlegs is completely neglecting Meatlug. This competition..."

"I know. So let's... just try not to think about it." He glanced at my Terrible Terror. "What are you gonna name him?"

"We're keeping them?" 

"Even if the rest of us aren't, I don't think we'd be able to take yours away from you if we tried." I chuckled, then looked at my Terrible Terror. His scales were a brilliant blue... 

"Azure." He smiled at me.

"I like that." I reached out to give him a hug.

"See you tomorrow... for disaster." Exhausted, I climbed the stairs and into my bedroom, removing my armor before curling up under my covers. Azure crawled his way over onto the pillow next to me, yawning before curling up next to me.

I sat on top of Shriek, watching the others tend to their Terrible Terrors, readying them for their competition. Hiccup had decided he'd at least participate, but wouldn't really try. Meatlug waddled her way into the Academy, that same sheep from last night in her mouth.

"Oh, Iggy, you can do this," Fishlegs cooed, coddling this Terrible Terror. "You're the best, most well-trained dragon ever." Meatlug nudged her rider, and Fishlegs turned to glare at her. "No, Meatlug. I can't right now." Her gaze lowered, and she sulked over to the corner and set the sheep down. "Okay, it's time to show off what we trained our Terrible Terrors to do. Why don't you g first, Snotlout?"

"Why don't _you_ go first?" The two of them engaged in a brief staring contest.

"Fine. I'll go first."

"Oh no you don't. I'll go first."

"First, second, third... doesn't matter. 'Cuz in the end, you're gonna come in last."

"Whoa. What got into Fishlegs?" I hoped Astrid was starting to see how crazy this was. Fishlegs was the perfect example of it.

"Looks like he finally grew some-" Hiccup stepped forward, holding his Terrible Terror in his hands.

"Whoa! How about I go first? Especially since I don't care whether I win or not because this isn't about winning or losing."

"Yeah, you keep selling that. Loser." Hiccup balanced his Terrible Terror on his arm and faced toward Toothless.

"Ready, Toothless?" He growled and nodded his head toward three carved ducks balanced on his wing. "Now!" Toothless threw the ducks into the air. "Sharpshot, fire!" His Terrible Terror took off and fired three tiny fireballs at the ducks.

"Not bad," Astrid complimented, stepping up. "You're starting out the competition with a bang, Hiccup."

"It is not a competition!"

"Not yet it isn't." I sighed and glanced over at Hiccup as though asking for help, and he shrugged.

"Well, what'ddya think?" Astrid extended her arms out, as though waiting for something to happen, but we all just stood there in awkward silence.

"What do we think of what?"

"My dragon's stealth skills." Astrid's explanation did nothing to clarify. 

"Right. His skill's so stupid, he didn't even show up."

"Or did he?" Everyone directed their attention to Snotlout's head, where Astrid's Terrible Terror had perched itself, calmly preening its wings. Tuffnut turned around, and somehow, the little dragon had already jumped onto Ruff's head.

"Oh, he's good."

"Yeah." A confused look crossed her face. "Who's good?" She looked up at Astrid Terrible Terror and caught on.

"Sneaky. Then again, he can't do what Butt and Head can do." The two Terrible Terrors walked away from each other, sniffing the ground as though they had no idea what was going on.

"Let me guess: they're gonna run into each other."

"No. Wrong." The dragons lifted themselves up off the ground and slammed their heads into each other.

"They flew into each other."

"Totally different." Fishlegs was clearly growing impatient, because he barely waited half a second before clearing his throat to call our attentions over to him.

"Prepare to be amazed by the smartest little dragon in the archipelago." He gestured to a point behind Hiccup and Astrid, and they all turned to see several items placed on crates. Fishlegs shuffled the papers in his hands, then pulled out one of an apple. "Iggy! Bring me this!" Iggy studied the drawing, then flew over to the crate with the red apple perched on it and brought it back to his trainer. "Good boy, Iggy. Oh, who's a good little guy."

"Oh, whatever. Lucky guess." A smirk grew on Fishlegs' face, and he held the papers out to his competitor. 

"Okay, you choose one." He yanked out the piece of paper with a bucket drawn on it, presenting it to the other riders before showing Iggy. He sniffed the piece of paper, then flew over to the bucket, picked it up, then finished the show off by dropping it on Snotlout's head.

"Wow. I couldn't do that," Tuff marveled. 

"Big deal." Snotlout threw the bucket off his head. "So he plays fetch."

"Well, what does your Terrible Terror do?"

"This." Snotlout took the lid off the crate he'd kept his dragon in, and the moment he was free, the Terrible Terror shot out like an arrow and clamped down on Snotlout's leg.

"Ow!" Snotlout hobbled around and jumped, attempting to shake the dragon off his shin.

"So, wait, let me get this straight," Fishlegs said through laughter. "You trained him to bite you?"

"Try and pry him loose, I dare you. Took Gobber all day yesterday to get him off this leg." He held up his other leg, presenting the bandage on it.

"You're ridiculous. Just tell them I won, Hiccup."

"You won? Ha! Get real."

"It wasn't even close." 

Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I watched as Meatlug suddenly got up and began sniffing the ground, as though she were looking for something. I glanced over at the others, who weren't paying a lick of attention, then went back to focusing on Meatlug.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. My Terror's stealthiness is pretty awesome, too."

"Astrid, please. There are no brains involved in teaching a Terror to hide." 

"Hey, our trainees ram their heads together at high speeds. That takes brains."

"Yeah. Really hard, rock-like brains."

"Oh, come on!"

"Come on, guys."

As Meatlug wandered her way out of the Academy, I had the urge to follow her. Clearly, she'd found something of interest, and if no one else would pay attention to her, I'd go and see what she'd found. Somehow, no one noticed as the two of us slipped out, and I followed behind her as she climbed up the steps that led out of the ditch we'd been dug into.

"Meatlug," I hissed. "Meatlug, come back." She wandered her way over to a pile of rocks, and suddenly took a defensive stance, letting out a low growl and refusing to stop staring at it. "Meatlug, what is so threatening about a pile of-"

She fired a lava blast at the pile, and it began to melt away, revealing Alvin, Savage, and Mildew hiding behind them. The four of us stared at each other in shock, attempting to process, before I reached for where I normally kept my sword. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to grab it before I went out the door this morning, leaving me defenseless.

"How did you all get here?" I whispered, glaring at them. "And Mildew? Really? What is going on here?"

"This would be a good time to retreat into the tunnel," Mildew murmured to his companions.

"Alvin the Treacherous doesn't retreat!"

"Well then, Alvin the Treacherous is gonna have to explain to Stoick the Vast what he's doing on Berk." As Mildew and Savage ran away, Azure began to screech, acting as an alarm in the Academy. I tried to lunge for Alvin to see if I could knock him down, but he predicted what I was going to do and grabbed onto me, somehow fully encasing me under one arm, and knocking Azure away with the other.

"Az!"

Meatlug sprung forward and began firing lava blasts in Alvin's direction as he turned on his heel and attempted to run. I thrashed and attempted to slide myself out of his grasp as Meatlug chased us, I even tried biting him, much to my regret. Did this guy ever bathe?

"Ow! This is crazy!" He suddenly halted in his tracks, whirled around, and slammed his fist into Meatlug's nose, knocking her out cold. "Muzzle her. We'll use the girl and the dragon as hostages."

Savage ran over to Meatlug and tied a rope around her mouth, meanwhile, Mildew yanked me out of Alvin's grasp and attempted to tie me up. He was much more frail, however, and I managed to kick his knees and knock him down, and I saw my chance to run. Unfortunately, the window was much smaller than I thought I was, and just as I turned around, Alvin brought his arm down on my head, and the world spun before going black.

I opened my eyes and tried my best to get my bearings. I tried to move my arms, but found them bound down to my sides by rope, and the rough thing I felt myself tied against must have been Meatlug. I glared as my eyes scanned over Alvin, Savage, and Mildew shoving off the shores of... Berk? At least, I thought it was Berk. I'd never seen this beach before. 

We were leaving Berk.

Frantically, I began to thrash and twist against the ropes, trying my best to slip out. If I'd brought my sword, I wouldn't be in this situation. But now I had this situation to deal with, and I'd work with what I got.

"You can stop struggling, girl," Mildew smirked. "Those ropes ain't goin' anywhere."

"You're a dirty, lying piece of trash. You don't deserve to call yourself a Berkian, you never did," I spat. "That goes for you too, Alvin!"

A blast of fire suddenly ignited the side of the ship, and Snotlout and Hookfang swooped over us. One of the other Outcast on the ship doused the flames with a bucket of water.

"Give them plenty o' lead!" Alvin shouted to his men. "Maybe we can take 'ome more dragons than I thought." The soldiers ran toward the front of the ship, heavily armed with crossbows.

"Oh no, don't you dare!" I screamed, kicking my legs out in hopes of taking one of them out.

Barf and Belch sprayed their gas over the side of the ship and ignited it, causing an explosion that made the boat rock. Astrid and Stormfly then pulled around and fired spines into the bottom of the boat, causing the lackeys to scatter. Hiccup, Toothless, and Fishlegs hovered over the boat and prepared to strike, until Alvin yanked out his sword and held it against my neck. I sucked in a breath, then clenched my hands into fists and glared at him.

"Stop! Or I'll run the girl through, and then the Gronkle!"

My hope fell as the group of riders turned around, but I tried to keep my mind at ease. They wouldn't abandon us, they were probably just trying to pull themselves together and come up with a new plan. 

"I don't see anything. Maybe they aren't coming." I held back a laugh. Savage was somehow even more dense that the twins and Snotlout combined. 

"Oh, they'll come," Mildew corrected.

"He's right. Their sen'i'ment is their weakness. Isn't it?" Alvin turned and smirked at Meatlug and I.

"I'd like to think of it as-" 

I suddenly became distracted when I noticed Astrid's Terrible Terror sitting on Alvin's head, completely unnoticed by him.

"As what?"

I shook my head and focused back on Alvin, clearing my throat before speaking.

"As-as their strength."

"Alvin, don't move." Savage pulled his sword out from its sheath and began to sneak up on Alvin, bringing the weapon down on his head just as the Terror flew away. I laughed as Savage attempted to hide the sword behind his back. Alvin carefully got up off the deck and turned around, fuming and glaring down at his men. "We-well now, let me explain, Alvin. There was a-a little dragon on your-"

Alvin drew his sword, but once he held it in the air, Iggy swooped down and snatched it from his hands, bringing it back to Fishlegs and Hiccup. Immediately after, Sharpshot came down from where they waited and fired at the roped around us, burning them away and freeing us. I hopped up onto Meatlug's back. One of the restraints remained around her leg, but she managed to shake it off. We started to take off, when another rope wrapped itself around Meatlug's tail and Alvin started to pull us back down.

"Come on, Meatlug!" I encouraged. "Come on, girl, you can do this!"

A purple blur suddenly shot past the two of us and severed the rope, allowing us to fly back up to the others. Meatlug immediately attached herself to Fishlegs and licked his face.

"Aw, Meatlug. Oh, I missed you, too." He and I traded placed, and I wrapped my arms around Hiccup's waist, smiling and leaning my head against his shoulder.

"Now, there's just one more loose end to tie up." We dove down and flew along the top of the water, growing closer to the Outcast ship from below. "Wait for it, wait for it... Now, Toothless! Barrel roll, multiple blasts!"

My eyes flew open in panic and I sat up straighter.

"Wait, what?" 

I gripped tightly onto him and held back a scream as the world around me turned over and over again. I heard the sounds of Toothless shooting and hitting the Outcast ship, but I couldn't see any of it. Suddenly, the pair came to a halt and pulled up, and as soon as I caught my breath, I let go with one of my arms and smacked his shoulder.

"If you ever try to do that with me on him again, I'll jump off," I screamed. My heart rate began to level out, and I leaned against him again. "But thanks for rescuing us." I felt him shift and lean his head against mine for a second, then he focused on flying Toothless again.

"Oh, baby, we got you back! Aw, Meatlug." Fishlegs leaned down to hug his dragon.

"We all did. Together."

"Guess that competition _was_ worth something."

"Oh, for the last time, it wasn't a competition!" 

The moment we landed back on Berk, I hopped off of Toothless and raced back toward home. Shriek and Azure were both waiting for me, and thankfully, the latter seemed to be all right. As soon as I opened the door, he perked his head up and chattered, then flew over to me and crawled up onto my shoulder.

"Hey, buddy." I cooed. "Good to see you, too." I headed back out the door and hopped on Shriek, flying to meet Hiccup so we could all work on training our Terrible Terrors. The two of us nodded at each other, then took off toward the Academy. Fishlegs and Meatlug were tossing that sheep back and forth to each other. 

"Hey, Fishlegs! We're gonna do some more training with the Terrors." He held onto the sheep and turned to look up at us.

"No can do, Hiccup. Meatlug and I have a lot of catching up to do."

I smiled at the two of them, then followed after Hiccup so we could train the newest members of the Dragon Academy.


	28. (Hiccup)

I kept a close eye on the two Nadders in front of me, and when the second one landed, I pelted the bags of paint at them. The yellow stain appeared on their necks, tagging them.

"Okay! These Nadders get tagged yellow!" I called up to Reign as she and Shriek hovered. "That's how we know they belong on Sorrow Island."

"Like this?" She pelted two bags of yellow paint at Nadders that were flying away, somehow hitting them perfectly. One managed to get away from her, and she flew to chase after it, nailing that one, and then another off on the horizon. "Feel free to join in anytime," she teased, looking back at me. She tried to hit another Nadder, but it moved out of the way, and the bag of paint fell into the sea.

"Okay." Reign flinched as the two of us shot over her head and pursued the missed Nadder, weaving back and forth between the sea stacks. Toothless and I managed to get in front of the wild dragon, and when it noticed us and tried to turn around, I pressed the trigger on my shield to bring out the slingshot and fired the bag of paint at it, coloring its chest bright yellow.

"All right, I have to admit: that shield is pretty cool." I held it up, then looked at her for a second, confused. Didn't she use this thing to save her life one time? With Dagur?

"Why, thank you. I quite like it, too." I ran my fingers along the rim. "Okay, I'm gonna go check on the twins. They're supposed to be marking the Crescent Island dragons."

"I'm sure that's going _really_ well," I heard her deadpan as I flew toward the neighboring island. Reign probably had a point, but I could still hope maybe they'd gotten at least a little bit of work done. As we got closer to the island, I followed the sound of shouting, and I emerged from the other side of the rocks to see the twins pelting bags of paint at each other. One would've hit my face if I hadn't ducked out of the way in time. 

"Guys! You're supposed to be tagging the dragons, not each other!"

"You know, if you think it through, Hiccup, this is pretty much your fault," Tuff accused.

"How do you figure that?" I crossed my arms against my chest.

"Uh, hello? You armed us with paint. Where'd you think that was gonna go?" Ruff turned to her twin. "And _we're_ the stupid ones..." 

"How many of these do we have to do, anyway?"

"As many as we can. The more dragons we tag on each island, the better we can keep track of where they belong, and where they may migrate to."

"Wow, that was..." Ruff glanced down at the bag of paint. "Uh..." She seemed at a loss for words.

"Fascinating?" I offered.

"What's the opposite of fascinating?"

"Hiccup!" I looked up to see Reign and Shriek landing. Azure scampered back and forth on her shoulders, as though thrown into a frenzy. Ever since she'd gotten that Terrible Terror, he refused to leave her side, and acted as a warning system for her. Of course, sometimes he warned against me, which didn't help. "Isn't it supposed to be one dragon color per island?"

"Yeah. Why?" She pointed to a group of Gronkles eating some boulders.

"I see two colors down there." Sure enough, one Gronkle was marked purple, while the other had a green spot. "Have we been using the wrong one?"

"I don't think so."

"Don't look at us. If we had green paint, you know where it would be."

"Well, I better ask Fishlegs. This was his idea."

"You're gonna fly all the way back to Berk?" I smirked at her before pulling out a piece of paper and some charcoal from my satchel.

"Nope. I don't have to." I quickly scribbled down a letter asking him and Snotlout to meet us on Dragon Island.

"What's he talking about?"

"He must have some of that magic paper we've been looking for."

"He always get the good stuff."

"It's not magic paper," I laughed. "Fishlegs and I have been working on something new." I rolled up the parchment and tied it onto the leg of Sharpshot. "We call it Air Mail."

"Stupid name," Tuff cackled.

"Right."

"Do you really think that Terrible Terror is gonna fly straight to Berk?"

"Yup, and right to the Academy. Terrors are especially territorial, so, it's a natural instinct for them to return to their home from wherever they're released." Sharpshot left my arm, taking the time to snap at Ruff and Tuff before heading to Berk.

"Well, that explains why Azure snaps whenever someone gets close..." Reign trailed off, seeming to be distracted before snapping her focus back to the situation. "And how will we know if he made it?"

"When Fishlegs and Snotlout meet us at Dragon Island." I got back up onto Toothless and looked up at her. She rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"If that happens, I'll kiss Snotlout on the lips." I raised an eyebrow and smirked, trying to hold back my laughter.

"I mean, I'd rather you not, but if you're so confident in your opinion..."

"Sorry, that's just the first thing I thought of." She shook her head. "I-" She looked around at all the faces below her, and suddenly turned bright red. "Yep- okay- yes -never mind," she stuttered awkwardly before patting Shriek and taking off.

"What was that about?" Tuffnut asked, looking from his sister to me.

"Not really sure..." I tried my best to forget what just happened as Toothless and I took off after her. She refused to make eye contact on our flight to Dragon Island, and despite my best attempts to make conversation, she would just stutter and just give a simple answer before focusing on the horizon.

Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Sharpshot were waiting for us when we landed on Dragon Island. I moved my gaze up to Reign, and her eyes went wide as she looked over the two of them, before glancing down at me.

"Well, look who it is. Fishlegs _and_ Snotlout. Both right here on Dragon Island. Reign was just talking about you." I smirked up at her and puckered my lips, but my pride quickly faded as I watched her face turned red again, and refused to look me in the eye as we got off our dragons. 

"Say it, and those will be the last words you ever speak." She crossed her arms, and suddenly, I felt more worried than anything else.

"Hey, are you-"

"Hiccup, I got your message," Fishlegs interjected before I could finish my question. "I knew Air Mail would work! So, uh, what's the emergency?"

"We're seeing dragons painted green on Crescent Island."

" _That's_ your emergency?" Snotlout spat. "I was in the middle of something very important."

"You were sound asleep."

"Beauty rest. You think _this_ just happens?" We all just stared at Snotlout, blinking as he waited expectantly for an answer.

"Fishlegs, does it make any sense to you that those dragons would be there?" I asked, trying my best to draw attentions away from Snotlout.

"No... they shouldn't be." He wandered over to a flat rock, where he'd laid out the color coded map he and I had made. "Crescent Island is clearly marked as purple." 

"That's what I thought."

"So, what were the green dragons doing there."

"First of all, it's not green, it's pistachio." Reign rolled her eyes and set a hand on her hip. "They belong on Tall Tree Island. That's where I tagged them."

"Yeah. Well, your pistachio dragons aren't where they're supposed to be." She moved Fishlegs' hand from the drawing of Tall Tree Island onto the one of Crescent Island.

"Huh. That's weird."

"We need to figure this out. Let's check out Tall Tree Island."

"Sounds awesome. I was wondering what I was gonna do with the rest of my day." 

Everyone stared at Snotlout in disbelief as he climbed up onto Hookfang. I didn't actually buy that he was excited to go, and I'm sure the other two by me didn't either, but the fact that he was actually going through with it was pretty impressive.

And then, as soon as we got in the air, Snotlout turned Hookfang right around and screamed, "see you back on Berk, suckas!"

"Yeah, that's about right," Reign muttered, shaking her head before reaching up to pet her Terrible Terror. The look on her face kept nagging at me, pushing me to want to ask if she was all right, but I knew this wasn't the time. Besides, based on how my previous attempts went, she probably wouldn't say anything. I knew when she was ready to talk, she'd say something.

We flew around for a while, looking down over the water in an attempt to find Tall Tree Island. We circled over the point it was supposed to be a few times, but for inexplicable reasons, it had just disappeared, like it had never been there in the first place.

"I don't understand. We should be there right now."

"Maybe we're off course," Reign suggested.

"I don't _do_ off course, Reign." Fishlegs leered at her, almost as though insulted she'd even think that. "According to my map, it should be right..." He looked down again, still not seeing an island.

"You were saying?"

"Even if we were off course, we'd still be able to see it from here."

"Well, an island can't just disappear."

"Earthquake, maybe?"

"Volcano?"

"Wrath of Thor? Wrath of Odin?" Both of us glared at Fishlegs, unamused. "What? Just throwing out possible explanations."

"None of that explains this." She pointed forward just as a trio of Monstrous Nightmares came flying in our direction. I covered my eyes and ducked just as two of them weaved between Toothless and I. They appeared to be in distress, like they were running from something. "Orange?"

"Burnt apricot, actually." Reign looked as though she were going to kill Fishlegs. 

"What island are they from?" I pulled out the list of colors and islands, and scanned it until I found the listing for 'burnt apricot'.

"According to this, they're from Sunstone Island."

"Ah, Sunstone Island. Pristine beaches, a veritable smorgasbord of mineral deposits for Meatlug." 

The fact that the Monstrous Nightmares had been fleeing concerned me. If Tall Tree Island just disappeared into thin air, that could've happened to Sunstone Island. Or, something could have invaded and chased them all off the island. 

"Sunstone Island it is."

We headed off in the direction of Sunstone Island, scanning the water to make sure it was actually there. For a long time, we didn't see the island, and I started to worry islands were somehow vanishing of the face of the Earth.

"Hey, Hiccup, isn't that it?"

Reign pointed to a tall rock off in the distance with a single tree sticking up off the top. It was too small to be the island, but... it was in the right place. I squinted at it, then motioned for everyone to follow. We all tried to land on the tiny spot of land, but only Fishlegs and Meatlug fit. Reign and I were forced to dangle off the edge as Shriek and Toothless desperately clung on.

"Huh. I thought it was bigger," Fishlegs stated, looking down at us.

"Ya think?" Toothless managed to pull himself up a little higher, but we still wouldn't be able to fit.

"I-I have to say, the beaches are a bit of a disappointment."

"One island is missing, and one island's been sunk..."

"I guess an entire island _can_ disappear." Reign's gaze fell, almost as though she were losing hope about the situation.

"Well, if-if the islands are gone, then where do the dragons go?"

"Good question. Dragons live in specific places for specific reasons." 

"The food they eat, where they nest..."

"If they lose their homes, it could endanger their whole species."

"We have to figure out what's going on now. Let's head back to Dragon Island."

"If it's still there," Reign scoffed.

As we got closer to Dragon Island, we saw an alarming amount of dragons, each with different colored tags, hovering in the air. They looked lost, scared, like they didn't know where else to go. They moved in circles, occasionally bumping into each other, then just brushing it off. We all landed and just stared for a moment, watching them all as they remained in a state of organized chaos.

"Look at them all..." I marveled as I stared up at the different dragons.

"Check their colors." Fishlegs glanced down at the map before scanning the dragons.

"Uh... I see pistachio, burnt apricot..." Reign glanced at a dragon, then as soon as she looked away, snapped her gaze back and pointed.

"Look! A new color: red."

"Technically, that's vermilion." Reign whipped around and glared at Fishlegs, clenching one of her hands into a fist as though she were ready to punch him. "What? It is!" I spread the map out a little more to get a better look at it.

"Dragons from three different islands, suddenly all here." I pulled a stick of charcoal from the pocket in my vest, then carefully drew a line connecting the islands to point out the pattern. "Look, this forms a line, which means there are other islands in danger- Boar Head Island, Thor Rock Island." I stared down at the map again. There had to be a reason these islands were starting to disappear, and I had to find it fast. Otherwise, the dragons might not have homes anymore. "Toothless, we're going back out there."

"I'm coming with you." Reign raced over to Shriek and hopped on at the same time. "This could get dangerous."

"What makes you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know-- islands disappearing mysteriously, dragons fleeing in terror. Call it a hunch." I sighed., defeated. There wasn't going to be any changing her mind.

"Fine. Fishlegs, you stay here in case any more dragons show up."

"Got it, new dragons. Meatlug and I are on the case."

With that, we took off. Almost immediately, Reign went silent again and began tending to Azure. He scampered back and forth, occasionally chittering at some point on the horizon. I knew I shouldn't ask, she wouldn't say anything until she was ready, but I couldn't help myself from worrying. 

"Hey, uh, Reign-"

"I'm sorry," she suddenly blurted out. My expression shifted, confused. 

"Wha-what?" She sighed and brought her eyes to meet mine.

"I'm sorry I said the thing about Snotlout. I know we were just messing around, but I feel bad about it. You and I are... well, what we are, and I feel bad that I even joked about it." I relaxed slightly. That was it? 

"Reign, I knew you were joking." I thought back on what I'd said when that happened. "And I know what I said probably came off as me thinking you were being serious, but I swear I didn't think that." Despite Azure's screeching, I steered Toothless closer and took her hand, squeezing it to try and reassure her. "I'm sorry if I upset you." She shrugged, and I watched a smile grow on her face.

"It's fine. I guess I was just worrying a little too much." I shook my head.

"It's perfectly understandable. I mean, I worry about you all the time, and I-" Her eyes darted in front of her several times, before squinting at the horizon. (A/N: Yep, I'm gonna stall them saying it for as long as possible ;) )

"Hiccup." I followed her gaze to the empty sea, and after pulling the map back out, I realized another island had vanished. 

"Boar Head should be down there. It's gone, too."

"So now what?" We had to head to the next island and make sure it was still there. The two of us dove closer to the water, and she followed Toothless and I to Thor Rock Island. What was normally a pretty noticeable land mass had somehow turned into a few rock formations sticking out for the water. And, of course, no dragons in sight. "Whoa. Look at what's left of Thor Rock. You know, maybe Fishlegs' 'wrath of gods' theory isn't so crazy."

"Let's get a closer look, bud."

We came close to one of the larger rock formations and hovered to get a better look at the ground. There were a bunch of large holes drilled into it, ones that I thought maybe we'd seen before.

"These markings look familiar, but... different, somehow."

"Different how?"

"Different..." What was the right word? "Bigger."

Suddenly, the spikes of rocks in front of us started to crumble away as the water began to tremble. From below, there was a roar, one that almost sounded as though it were a scream...

"That sounds like-"

A large, worm-like dragon made of snow white scales shot up from underneath us, thrashing its tail back and forth. I barely caught a glimpse of blood red eyes before the figure covered in spikes hovered before us.

"The Screaming Death!" The full form of its body emerged from underground, and I couldn't help but notice how much bigger it had gotten. "Uh... someone's been eating their vegetables."

"And everything else in sight!" It noticed the two of us and let out that scream, causing the dragons to thrash back and forth, attempting to get their bearings.

"Its scream disorients the dragons."

"No kidding!" It screamed again before diving back under the rock layer, causing the ground to rattle again. As more rocks fell away, it dawned on me what happened to all those vanishing islands

"The Screaming Death has been destroying all the islands! It must be tunneling underneath and causing them to collapse in on themselves."

"Why would it do that?" 

"I don't know. Let's get a closer look." She narrowed her eyes at me. "You wanted dangerous."

"This is not what I meant!" she called after me as I flew closer to where the large dragon had dug into. I could see her out of the corner of my eye as we came up over a rock formation, and for a second, I thought we'd lost it. That was, until it burst through the rock we'd just flown over. "Hiccup!" I quickly turned Toothless around and allowed us to hover as it got closer. 

"Easy, bud. Maybe it wants to be friends." It narrowed its gaze as we stared each other down. "Or maybe not."

It fired at Toothless and I as we turned around and moved behind a sea stack, which the Screaming Death immediately crashed through with no regard. I steered Toothless to climb for the clouds, but the dragon managed to catch up. I let out a little exclamation of fear, then dove back down again, weaving through sea stacks while the Screaming Death destroyed them. It suddenly let out a roar, and I turned to see that Reign and Shriek had caught up, and the former was now chucking green bags of paint straight into the Screaming Death's eyes.

"Hope you like pistachio!" The Screaming Death listed its head back at forth, then let out the dragon disorienting scream, causing their steady hover to falter. "Whoa! Steady, Shriek. Just hang in there." She looked over at me. "Cover your ears." The two of us slammed our hands over our ears as Shriek let out a sonic boom, causing the Screaming Death to fall back before turning around and taking off. "How's that for accuracy?"

I smirked at her, but I couldn't keep my mind off the Screaming Death. It had already driven so many dragons away from their homes, and if we didn't do something, every single island in the archipelago might be destroyed, and then where would the dragons go.

"We have to head back to Dragon Island, Reign. We need to tell Fishlegs what we saw, and figure out how to stop the Screaming Death."

She nodded and flew beside Toothless and I as we made our way back to what now seemed to serve as our base. There were more dragons flying in a frantic circle around the island, all sorts of different colors. Fishlegs' face was overwhelmed with panic as he watched them. 

"Periwinkle blue! There are now periwinkle blue marked dragons here!"

"I know." Reign and I slid off our dragons. "Boar Head Island."

"And-and look! There's eggshell white."

"From Thor Rock Island." 

"What happened to them?" I removed the color coded map from the pocket in my vest and spread it out on the flat rock.

"The same thing that happened to all the other islands." I started to cross off the ones that were missing. "The Screaming Death." Fishlegs gasped.

"The Screaming Death is back?"

"I don't think it ever really left," I admitted.

"Yeah. It just got bigger... and nastier."

"Uh... how _much_ bigger?" Reign picked up some pieces of a crumbled rock and filtered them through her fingertips.

"'Chomp, chomp, there goes your island' big." Fishlegs shuddered, and I turned my attention back to the map, circling certain islands that had been impacted, starting to spot the pattern.

"It's just as I thought. The Screaming Death is following an imaginary line, destroying anything in its path."

"It's coming right at us." 

"That's not even the worst part." I continued to draw the line all the way to a large, familiar island.

"It's headed straight to Berk..."

"We have to get back to Berk and-and warn Stoick." I stood up straight and headed toward a large set of rocks that overlooked the sea, right in the direction the Screaming Death would be coming.

"No. We headed off. We make our stand here. There's no other land between here and Berk."

"Look, I'm all about danger, but... did you see the size of that thing?" Azure scampered up and down Reign's arms before nuzzling into her face, trying to comfort her.

"It's not going to be just us. We're sending for reinforcements." I pulled out another blank parchment and began to write down an urgent message to Astrid, Snotlout and the twins.

"Look, I completely and totally trust Astrid, but Snotlout and the twins? I feel so much better." I called for Sharphot and wrapped the message around his leg.

"Hey. We're gonna need all the help we can get." I sent my Terrible Terror off toward Berk, watching as he took off. Reign shook her head and turned around, pretending to tend to Shriek. I pulled my spyglass from the pouch on Toothless' saddle and watched the horizon, hoping the Screaming Death wouldn't suddenly come barreling over it.

"Hiccup! The yellow marked dragons from Sorrow Island just started showing up," Fishlegs informed me.

"Which means the Screaming Death is only one island away."

"Looks like help's not coming," I sighed, trying to keep my voice calm. "All right. We'll have to set up a defense here on Dragon Island with what we have."

"Maybe we should fall back and head for home," Reign suggested, worry etched all over her face.

"We can't! If the Screaming Death destroys Dragon Island, all these dragons will overwhelm Berk."

"And... the Screaming Death won't be far behind."

"Exactly."

"How soon 'till it gets here?" A powerful roar came down from the sky. "Never mind."

I turned on my heel and raced for my shield before making my way over to Toothless.

"Toothless and I will try to buy us some time. You guys join me when Astrid, Snotlout, and the twins arrive." Reign pulled her sword from her sheath.

"I'm going with you." I hopped up onto Toothless and got ready to take off.

"No. I need you as I safety net in case it gets past me."

"So you're leaving me by myself?"

"Uh, hello?" Fishlegs and Meatlug trotted over. "Man on a dragon here, right behind you." Reign scoffed.

"You know what I meant, Fishlegs."

"I do, and I'd like to go on record as saying we don't appreciate it, do we, girl?" Meatlug growled. Reign kept her determined stance for a moment, but when she realized there wasn't any changing my mind, her posture dropped.

"Ugh. Just go."

Toothless and I took off in the direction the roar had come from, trying to catch the Screaming Death before it got to the next island. If we could keep it from destroying that one, it'd be better, but the most important thing was making sure it never reached Dragon Island. Luckily, Toothless and I managed to catch up with it just before it ran through the next island. Toothless fired a plasma blast to stop it in its tracks, and it looked at us angrily before roaring.

"Well, we clearly got its attention, bud. Now, let's play a little follow the leader, and see if it goes for the shiny shield trick again."

Toothless turned completely around, and I put my shield out in front of me so it would catch the light, then shone it straight into his eyes. It squinted for a second, then began to fire at us, shooting multiple blasts in an attempt to strike us down. It started crashing through sea stacks again as Toothless and I wove around them. It chased us away from the island, seeming to completely forget about sinking another home.

"Huh. That was easy." The next roar sounded much further away, and when I turned back around, I saw the Screaming Death heading right back to the island we'd just left. "Guess I spoke too soon." We caught up with the large dragon again, and I pushed my shield closer to its face. Maybe it just hadn't noticed the first time... "Come on, you love shiny things." It sped up to lose us. "At least, you used to." 

As it passed us, its tail slammed down against the shield, sending Toothless and I tumbling toward the sea. I managed to get a hold on him right before we went under, and we tried to play catch up.

"Okay, so it's getting bigger _and_ smarter. Not the greatest combination. Come on, bud!" We got as close to the Screaming Death as possible, and Toothless fired multiple plasma blasts, trying desperately to get it off course. "We're barely making a dent in that thing." It turned and began to chase us. It screamed, slightly disorienting Toothless, and started to get close enough to kill us. I frantically looked around, trying to find a way to save us both, when I heard a loud roar, followed by the pained whimper of the Screaming Death. Toothless managed to get a hold of himself, and I turned around to see Reign facing off with the deadly dragon.

"Turn around, you overgrown earthworm!" she teased, flying away to get it to chase her. It tried to hit her with its large fireballs, but Shriek was too fast, and the two of them managed to avoid being hit. Fishlegs suddenly zoomed past my head, and I rolled my eyes. I'd told them to stay and defend Dragon Island, and something told me they'd left before anyone could show up to defend the land they'd left.

"Fishlegs! What are you doing? You need backup!"

"Oh, I've got backup!" A large group of Gronkles, all with different tags, came up to support Fishlegs and Meatlug. "Meatlug, spew!" They started a chain reaction, causing all the Gronkles to fire at the Screaming Death. It reeled back and thrashed its head, as though it didn't know how to respond to the sudden onslaught of attacks, and began to flee when two more Gronkles chased it right toward the larger group.

"Man, it's like Gronkle Fest out here," Reign joked, hovering near me. Azure scampered to the shoulder closer to me and narrowed his gaze, causing Reign to laugh. "Okay, boy, that's enough." She picked him up and moved him back over. She looked back over at Fishlegs and his armada. "How do you do that?"

"Gronkles are territorial, too," I shouted to her. "They will defend their home at any cost. Great idea, Fishlegs!"

"I know, right! Who's the safety net now?"

"Are you kidding me?" I muttered. Reign smirked at me, shrugging her shoulders in a sort of way that showed she was mocking me. Meanwhile, the Screaming Death fled the attacks from the Gronkles and buried itself into the ground.

Even though it gave us momentary relief, the island would collapse if we let it keep digging. It would be a pain, but we needed to flush the Screaming Death out.

"You see that? It ran away." The ground began to tremble again, and cracks started to form on the surface.

"Uh, not quite... Reign, Fishlegs, get as many wild dragons together as you can. I'll try to force it back to the surface."

Toothless and I dove into the hole the Screaming Death had made. I could just barely catch a glimpse of its red and white figure before it disappeared completely into its own network of tunnels. The bubbling sound of water rising suddenly got close, and when Toothless and I emerged into what appeared to be an underground cave, I watched as rocks began to fall.

"It's trying to sink the island from within..."

A close roar caused my heart to jump, and as I snapped my head up, the Screaming Death began to fire.

"Toothless! Look out!"

Toothless dove and turned to fly out of here just as the Screaming Death came charging right at us. Its fire chased us as we zoomed back out the tunnels, nearly catching up. From it, the large dragon poked its head through and repeatedly screamed, clearly trying to get Toothless and I to fall right into its mouth. We suddenly stopped short as we came upon a pile of rocks that had fallen and blocked an exit, then Toothless roared with his head pointing up and began to fly in that direction. Sure enough, there was another tunnel, and as the Screaming Death rammed its head against that same pile, we shot out of the underground. 

"Hey!"

I turned around and saw Astrid, Snotlout, Ruff, and Tuff flying in my direction, which wasn't good. Not only were they here, when they should have gone to Dragon Island, but they'd showed up _very_ late.

"We got your message," Tuff said as he and Ruff passed me. 

"Well, one of us did," Snotlout shot back. The Screaming Death emerged from its tunnels again.

"Whoa!" Astrid leaned her head back, watching as the dragon tried to pull its entire body out from the darkness. "Did that thing get bigger?"

"Yeah!" Of course Tuff was excited about this... "And awesomer." They began to fire at the dragon in an attempt to distract it, while Toothless and I scanned the island, hoping to find some sort of way to keep it from going under.

"All right, dragons. Let's get territorial!"

I looked up to see Reign coming toward us with easily seven or eight Thunderdrums trailing us. She looked down at me and winked, then focused her gaze back on the Screaming Death.

"Everyone, cover your ears! Now!" We all did as told, keeping our eyes on her as she did the same. "Shriek, sonic boom!" A sound louder than the Screaming Death could ever hope to make pierced the spaces between our fingers that left our ears exposed as the group of Thunderdrums roared, shocking the Screaming Death and injuring it at the same time.

"Meatlug, dive!" All of the Gronkles dove closer to the Screaming Death, striking it as they came down before quickly turning to get out of its reach. From the distance, they fired at it, as did the rest of the Dragon Riders.

"It's working! All the wild dragons are defending their homes!" After withstanding a few more blasts, the Screaming Death roared one last time, then turned and flew away, far from the direction of Berk.

"I don't think the Screaming Death is gonna mess with Dragon Island anymore."

The ground beneath us suddenly began to tremble, and I watched as rock formation shrunk down into the water.

"Oh, man. But it is still sinking!" The holes the Screaming Death made began to spew water as the levels rose.

"Lava blast!"

Meatlug and the other Gronkles sputtered their way down near the surface of the island and began filling the holes with lava, which immediately hardened and stopped the flow of water. The land settled again, but finally stopped sinking.

"The lava is stabilizing the island!" I smiled over at the Gronkle and her rider. "Fishlegs, Meatlug, you two were the heroes today."

"Oh, come on, you're making us blush."

With our business concluded, everyone headed back to Berk. Our dragons were finally able to rest in the Academy. While the others waited for a bit and then took their companions home, I scanned through the Book of Dragons and borrowed Bork's papers from Fishlegs, trying to find anything I could about the Screaming Death. Eventually, everyone made their way back toward me, and as the sky started to turn a slight purplish-pink, we all began to head home. I removed the list of dragon colors from my vest pocket and scanned it, sighing. Sure, we'd dealt with the Screaming Death for now, but...

"Everybody saw how that Screaming Death turned tail and ran as soon as Hookfang and I showed up, right?"

"Uh-huh. And all those wild dragons had _nothing_ to do with it," Reign deadpanned.

"Correct."

"As long as we never have to see the Screaming Death again. It's giving Meatlug gas. And I don't have to tell you what that's like."

"Hey." I jumped, not realizing how close Reign had suddenly gotten to me. "Did you find anything else about the Screaming Death?"

"The good news is they only hatch one every hundred years or so."

"That's the good news?"

"What's the bad news?" Snotlout asked, pushing Fishlegs out of the way for some reason.

"Let me guess!" Tuffnut interjected. "What's it gonna be? The end of the world?" His tone was mocking, but unfortunately, he wasn't that far off.

"Close." His expression changed to a more serious one.

"Uh, I was kidding."

"The bad news is it's still out there, and someday, it'll come back to Berk."


	29. (Reign)

I covered my mouth to keep everyone from seeing me yawn as I attempted to keep my eyes open and on Gobber. For whatever reason, he'd decided our lesson for today should be early in the morning. The sky was just beginning to gain its colors when Gobber began to teach us. Three dragon traps were laid out before him. He stared down at the large jaws of one for a few seconds, then stepped onto the trigger, causing the metal to snap shut above him, catching its hook hand.

"Ah! Ow, the pain!" he screamed. Everyone grimaced and looked away from the scene, despite the fact no actual damage had been done to Gobber's body. "The horror!" Satisfied with his theatrics, Gobber began to laugh and pried the spiky ends away from his hook. "Don't soil your skivvies. I was just playing around. But these dragon traps are made to withstand the toughest of... well, dragons. They're nothing to play around with." Hiccup and I glanced at each other with a shrug.

"Uh, I beg to differ." I shook my head at Tuff. "That one with all the teeth on it's got 'Tuffnut' written all over it."

"Exactly what I was thinking," his sister cackled. I would've had a more outward reaction to the twins' antics, but it was just too early for that.

"You two can feel free to experiment on your own time. Now, who can tell me what this trap is called?"

"Ruffnut-be-gone." Ruff reached out and slapped her brother's ear. "Ow! My lobe..."

"It's called a Snapper," Fishlegs answered, waving his hand around in the air. I was impressed he could still remember that sort of thing, given not only how long it had been since we'd used them, but also how much he'd always loved dragons. His fascination had kept him away from killing them, but I suppose he just picked up on the information from background noise.

"Potato, potahto."

"Hey, guys, this is really important, okay?" Hiccup scolded. "Eyes forward." 

I held back the urge to snicker at him, but he still caught my smirk. He sounded like a parent scolding his children. Then again, that's exactly what they were acting like.

"No problemo." They rammed their helmets against each other's, suddenly engaging in an intense staring contest. I knew this wasn't what Hiccup meant, but if it got them to be quiet, I was on board. 

"Other traps include ropers, grabbers, and netters," Fishlegs rattled on.

"Ah! Well done, Fishlegs," Gobber praised. "But remembering how to unset them, _that's_ what separates the men from the maimed."

Fishlegs stepped up to aid in the demonstration, when Meatlug flew up behind him and nudged his back. She let out a tiny whine, her eyelids lowered in concern.

"Oh, it's all right, girl. Daddy will be fine." He kissed what I presumed was Meatlug's cheek before beckoning for Astrid. The two of them made their way over to the roper trap. "For the roper, press your foot against the activation lock." He made a bit of a show of demonstrating.

"Then, remove the latch key, which takes tension off the trigger." Astrid dangled the silver key from her fingertips, the light making it look as though it were brand new. "Then you can cut the rope."

"Someone's been paying attention." Gobber made his way over to the most complicated trap out of the three in front of us. "And what about the notorious netter trap?" Hiccup started to make his way over, but Snotlout stuck his arm out in front of him, interrupting his confident stride.

"Uh-uh-uh, I got this one." Hiccup gestured his arms out toward the trap as I made my way over to him. 

"Please, be my guest."

"Is it wrong to root for the trap?" I snickered, leaning against his shoulder with one of my arms. Eventually, he'd be taller than me- his growth spurt needed to hit first- so I needed to take advantage of these moments when I could.

"Well, let's just call it a teaching moment." We watched as Snotlout wandered his way around the trap, making a full assessment of it before trying to disable the trap.

"Okay. It's pretty simple, actually." He seemed confident now, but I had to wonder where that would go in a few seconds. "You just detach the ropey-chain looking thing, pull the pointy part back, then-" He took a step forward onto the net, and it snapped up, trapping him inside. He kicked and flailed as though that were going to get him down. "Hookfang, you gonna get me out of here?" His dragon responded by grumbling and walking away. "Any time."

"Hiccup? You want to release the beast?" I moved from my position and crossed my arms.

"That's not absolutely necessary, is it?" Hiccup shook his head at me, then motioned for Toothless to follow. He hopped up onto his dragon's back and used him to boost himself up onto the point where the net was cinched.

"Okay... engage the safety pin, dislodge the trigger strike..." The net released, sending Snotlout crashing to the floor.

"Teacher's pet," he scoffed. Hiccup jumped down from the netter and pointed toward the snapper. "Toothless, plasma blast!" He fired right onto the trigger, clamping its jaws shut and rendering it useless. "Good job, bud." Gobber propped the trap back up and released it.

"Right. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, show me how to unset this snapper trap." The twins somehow had not moved from their positions, and something told me neither of them had blinked yet.

"Can't." Tuffnut help up his index finger, as though that would completely silence everyone. "Staring contest."

" _Now!"_

"Fine," Ruff sighed. "You don't have to get so testy." 

The two of them inched their way over to the trap, helmets still connected. They stepped _into_ the trap, for whatever reason, and their feet pressed down on the trigger, snapping it shut on the horns of their helmets and flinging them into the mouths of Barf and Belch.

"You almost cut off my head!"

"Now _that_ would've been stare worthy." Ruff shrugged her shoulders casually. "Ah, next time."

"All right, listen here. You all have your assignments." Gobber hobbled his way over to the map he'd marked with various red dots, sprinkled all over Berk. "There are dozens of dragon traps left over from, well... when we killed them. But, since we don't... well, kill them anymore, we thought it might be a good idea to get rid of them before some wild dragon wanders into them and gets caught. So get going!" Gobber gestured his hook hand out, accidentally knocking over the map. 

I strode over to Shriek and looked down at her with a smile. Despite the trouble they could get into, the dragons had made our lives better. It'd been hard to adjust to the idea of them being a part of our lives- it seems like just yesterday, Hiccup was taking me on that first flight on Toothless- but they'd made everything easier, and every day some sort of adventure. Taking down the traps was a huge step in the right direction, and one I was glad Chief Stoick himself had suggested.

I'd been waiting for Hiccup, so we could get started on dismantling the traps, but I noticed he was over by the twins, wearing a look in his face that indicated he was ready to scold.

"You guys know what you're doing, right?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"A necessary one," I retorted, crossing my arms and glaring at them.

"You have absolutely no idea, do you?" The grilling of the twins wouldn't stop until Hiccup got a truthful answer. These traps were just as dangerous for people as they were for dragons, and one wrong move could buy you a one way ticket to Valhalla.

"Absolutely-"

"-no idea," Ruffnut admitted with a roll of her eyes. Barf and Belch stooped down to give their riders back their helmets.

"Guys, we're clearing dragon traps. It's very dangerous-- for you, and for your dragon." The twins glanced up at their dragon, then back to Hiccup with confused looks on their faces, as though they didn't get what was going on. "You know what? Forget it. You guys stay here where you can't get into trouble." 

"Actually, we can get into trouble pretty much anywhere." I didn't doubt Tuffnut's words for a second. "Remember that empty room?"

"He's got a point."

"Look, I-I just don't know if I can trust you guys out there right now. This is... serious." The twins' expressions fell. 

"Wow. That was... harsh."

"Yeah, ouch." 

"Yeah, no, I didn't mean it like that, it's just-"

"No, we get it," Tuffnut interrupted. "You think we're useless." He waved his hand toward himself, and Barf and Belch ducked their heads down, allowing the twins to get up on their saddles. 

"I didn't say that."

"But you were thinking it," I taunted. 

"That's not helping me at all." He focused back on our points of interest for this conversation.

"We'll be fine, Hiccup. It's not like we never pay attention."

"Just... rarely." Barf and Belch turned and padded out of the Academy, leaving Hiccup and I to stare as their figures retreated. They were gonna get hurt out there, but that wasn't our fault. They needed to pay attention once in a while, then maybe we'd trust them to do even just simple tasks.the moment

"You know, I'm actually gonna miss them when they don't come back."

"Reign..." Hiccup's tone was scolding. 

"What? We both know they're going to get themselves hurt."

"And you don't seem to care all that much." I scuffed my boot against the ground as I turned to meet his green eyes.

"Of course I _care_ , Hiccup. I just think it's borderline shocking they haven't learned there are consequences to their actions.... or lack thereof." Hiccup chuckled and shook his head as he turned to get up onto Toothless. "What?"

"You sound so much older than you are," he teased. My nose instinctually crinkled in disgust as he said that. Growing up didn't appeal to me at the moment, and as best as I could, I'd put off remembering it had to happen eventually.

"Never say that again." 

I swung my leg over Shriek and positioned myself onto her saddle before taking off beside Hiccup. Gobber had, conveniently, assigned Hiccup and I areas to search that _just happened_ to be right next to each other. In fact, they were so close that most of the specific trap points overlapped. Hiccup and I had decided to just tackle all of them together, since there was really no point in handling one or two traps on our own, and then attempting to compete for the last several dozen. Besides, Shriek didn't have any sort of firepower, in the literal sense of the word, so having Toothless there would be a huge help for both of us.

"I see one right over there." I pointed to the big, obvious snapper trap with a fish stuck on its trigger, just barely visible under the cover the trees provided. The two of us landed and hopped off our dragons, hoping to get this done quickly. Toothless eyed the fish with dilated pupils, licking his chops as he attempted to control his aggressive salivating. Hiccup rested a hand on his dragon's neck-- a silent reassurance he'd get his fish later.

"All right, bud. Blast it!" Toothless shot a plasma blast at the trigger, slamming the trap's jagged jaws shut and blackening the lure on top of it. "Good work."

A gust of wind suddenly pushed against us, strong enough to cause Hiccup to nearly lose his footing. Unlike the wind that normally danced through Berk, this one was hot, dry as a dragon's scales. I glanced at Hiccup, who shared my worried expression. We both knew what this wind brought.

"Did you feel that, bud?"

Sure enough, a small patch of ground had ignited, unsuspectingly flickering with campfire like flames. Hiccup quickly rushed over to stop it out before it could spread and cause damage to the forest.

"There's a dry, hot wind coming in from the north." I held my hand up, attempting to feel the choking breeze and it darted toward us. "It hasn't rained for two months. This is definitely fire weather."

Despite our job not being done, Hiccup and I calmly got back up on our dragons.

"Let's get back to the village and find my dad," Hiccup suggested. We turned back around and headed toward home, hoping to catch the chief in time to take precautionary measures. A forest fire could reach the village in no time if we weren't prepared to stop it, bringing destruction and death along with it. 

The two of us landed on the docs to find Chief Stoick standing in place, looking as though he were supervising something. Whatever it was, the large mass of his body blocked the event, keeping Hiccup and I from being aware of the situation.

"Uh, Dad, I-I need to talk to you." Hiccup sounded nervous, even though he had no reason to be. After all, he hadn't broken or messed anything up, and he couldn't control the weather, so it's not like the potential for fires was his fault.

"No time to talk, son." The chief raised his hand up to keep Hiccup from continuing without having to turn around. "Fire weather." We peered around the side of his dad to see that Vikings were preparing hundreds of barrels and buckets of water, preparing for the worst. Hiccup looked up at Chief Stoick with a slightly shocked expression as he tore his eyes from the scene.

"How'd you know that?"

"Gobber, show them." Gobber suddenly came up behind us, causing me to jump as the beat of my heart inarguably took a few years off my life, before grabbing one of our hands and rubbing them against his stubble. I grimaced and took a step back, finally finding the line of how much of Gobber's weirdness I'd put up with.

"Feel that?"

"Yes," Hiccup answered awkwardly as he pulled his hand away.

"It's usually supple, tender, like a newborn baby." The two of us shot each other a glance, growing more uncomfortable by the minute. "When it's fire weather? Dry as a fifty year old yak."

"Which brings us to you," Chief Stoick interjected.

"I-It does?" 

"Yes. One errant dragon blast could burn Berk to the ground." That was something both of us understood prior to the chief saying it, but something about the words actually leaving his mouth made it that much more urgent. "So make sure the twins don't do anything stupid out there." We shrugged our shoulders at each other as Chief Stoick and Gobber went back to business.

"So I'm guessing now we have to track the twins down and bring them back here?" I sighed. 

"We'll just have to be careful and quick. Let's gather up some supplies and get ready to go as soon as possible." I nodded and raced back toward my hut, gathering up supplies before striding my way toward where Hiccup lived. Shriek waddled along close to my feet, completely unaware of the consequences of not reaching the twins in time. They were a destructive force of nature that were going to burn down the entirety of Berk if we didn't get to them now. Hiccup and I started getting ourselves together when Astrid and Stormfly landed nearby.

"Uh, where are you two going?" she asked, not leaving her dragon.

"The twins haven't come back yet," I explained, "and no one's seen them."

"I knew I shouldn't have sent them out there," Hiccup muttered, slinging his leg up over Toothless. I made my way up onto my own dragon and started to follow behind him.

"We're going with you," Astrid insisted, referencing her and Stormfly.

"No, they're our responsibility. We'll find them." Hiccup and I took off, refusing to say anything as we scanned the ground, hoping to find some sign of a Zippleback or the twins. Thankfully, I didn't see any clear, glaring signs of destruction, which hopefully meant they hadn't been afforded the opportunity for chaos, somehow.

"Keep your eyes open, Toothless."

I only tore my gaze from the ground for a moment, but it was long enough to register the fact a large plume of smoke had begun to rise through the trees. Smoke suddenly began to overtake the oxygen and cause me to cough.

"Like I said: fire weather. _Just_ great. You know what they say? Where there's fire, there's the twins." I shot a look at him.

"Who says that?"

The two of us flew straight into the dark cloud, swooping down a little lower in hopes of being able to spot the twins. The stinging in my eyes caused them to water and I sputtered and coughed, trying to get enough air to keep myself conscious. I could practically feel the dark substance soaking into my pores.

"Toothless, there." I couldn't understand how Hiccup could see through the flames quickly skittering their way up the trunks of the trees and dancing through the violent wind. "Come in low, bud, to avoid the fire and the..." We got close enough to see through the smoke. A massive dragon loomed over Tuffnut, who sat dangling from the net with a dragon trap perched in the branches. "...massive Typhoomerang?"

A tree nearly crashed down onto Hiccup and Toothless, forcing Shriek and I to pull back for a second before swooping over the site of the crash. Panic started to strike as I watched the orange flames consume Toothless' tail fin.

"The clearing, Toothless!" Hiccup cried as he frantically attempted to shift his peg leg. "We can make the clearing!"

Hiccup and Toothless crash landed onto the ground, and the force caused Hiccup to be thrown from the saddle. He tumbled uncontrollably a few times, landing face first on the dirt. 

"Hiccup!" I pushed Shriek forward to land and immediately jumped off of her, racing for Hiccup's body and wrapping an arm around his waist to help him up. He shook his head a little, and I moved to rest my other hand on the center of his chest. One of his arms wrapped around my shoulders, while the other hand wrapped itself around the wrist of my hand that rested on him as we stared down the _massive_ dragon. It leered at us, and I suddenly felt a drop in my stomach right before it roared. It extended its wings out, not that it needed to make itself look any more massive, and began to stomp toward us. 

"Okay, everybody stand back. This is bad." The two of us jumped, and I felt his grip on my wrist tighten as it roared right in our faces. "Wait a second... I know you." I glanced over at Hiccup.

"Well, he doesn't seem to know you!" The two of us backed up against the side of Toothless, who wrapped his wings around Hiccup and I to shield us as the Typhoomerang did the same in an attempt to trap us for an attack. It leaned its head down and attempted to snap at us.

"Oh, man! Your new dragon ate Hiccup and Reign!" Ruffnut shouted.

"Bad Typhoomerang. Now, you barf out Hiccup and Reign right now." 

Realizing it couldn't reach us through Toothless, the Typhoomerang spread its wings and allowed Toothless to do the same. Hiccup immediately raced out as the cocoon opened. He put himself right out into the open, staring up at the Typhoomerang as it growled at her.

"Hiccup! What are you doing?" I hissed. He extended his hand up and stared at it with wonder. I reached over for my sword, but before I could do something, the Typhoomerang leaned its head down and nuzzled Hiccup's hand. My mouth slightly fell open as I slowly got up and made my way over to him.

"This-This isn't just any Typhoomerang." Hiccup turned around. "Ruff, Tuff, Reign, don't you recognize this guy? Look at him!" I followed Hiccup's steps and stared at the face of the large dragon, attempting to figure out what exactly he was seeing, and how it was relevant when a forest fire was barreling toward us. "It's Torch!"

I had to think for a second before remembering the little Typhoomerang Hiccup and I had found a while back. My eyes widened in amazement as I moved my eyes up. He'd gotten big _fast_.

"What? No way."

"Hiccup, Torch is, like, this big." Tuffnut held his hands close together, then scoffed. "And he calls himself the Dragon Conqueror."

"Uh... no, I don't call myself that. And this _is_ Torch, he just grew... a lot. That's what happens when you, well, grow up." Tuffnut shrugged his shoulders.

"Uh... nope. I'm drawing a blank here. I don't know anything about that."

"Yeah. Nothing." I bit down on my tongue, trying to hold back my similar thoughts. Toothless lowered himself to the ground and growled just as Torch flicked his tail out to knock him down. I'd nearly forgotten the two of them didn't get along the last time they'd seen them.

"Come on, guys. You're not gonna start this again," Hiccup sighed, stepping between them. "Right now, we've got a fire bearing down on us. Ruffnut, get Tuffnut out of that trap." He started to race back over to Toothless.

"Uh, yeah, about that. We've been trying--"

"--but someone, and I won't say any names, didn't give very clear instructions." Hiccup let out an exasperated sigh, his shoulders slumping.

"Never mind." Hiccup rushed over to Barf and Belch and cut the ropes tying them to the ground. "Barf, Belch, help me up." One of the dragons-- I never knew which head was which-- leaned down to allow Hiccup to climb on top of him to boost him up. Hiccup jumped up onto the net and tried to undo the latch.

"Just... just leave me," Tuffnut coughed out. My eyes began to sting and water again as the smoke seeped its way closer to us. "Save yourselves!"

"You heard him, let's get out of here!"

"Again, kidding." Ruffnut stopped in her tracks.

"Yeah, me too." Hiccup yanked the latch up and down, attempting to get it to release as the flames completely encircled us.

"It's stuck tight!" Realizing he couldn't get it to budge, Hiccup jumped down from the trap. "We need to get out of here. That fire's heading straight to Berk. Torch, can you give us a lift?" He seemed to understand what Hiccup was asking, and leaned down to allow us to climb up onto his back. Hiccup, Toothless, Barf, Belch, Shriek, and myself all fit on him, and as he took off, he grabbed Tuffnut and the trap from the branches.

_"This is awesome and scary!_ " Tuffnut screamed as he dangled just above the flames.

"The fire's headed for that logging path. If it jumps over, it'll burn through Berk before we can do anything. Okay, Torch. Set us down on that path." Torch roared back at us and began to descend. 

"Uh, hey, guys?" Tuffnut called up. "As awesome as this fire is up close, I think my back hair just went up in flames. And you know how much I love my back hair. And how much of it there is."

"It's true!" Ruff confirmed. "He does. Almost as much as I like mine." I shuddered in disgust.

"Just hang on! We're going in for a landing!"

"Wait a minute!" Torch dropped Tuff onto another branch before landing right on the edge of the fire. Those of us capable ran closer, attempting to figure out what to do to stop it. Yellow and orange roared and crawled closer as it shot up its plumes of black and grey.

"We're too late!" Hiccup's shoulders slumped as I placed a hand on his arm, watching the flames close in on us.

"Wait! Torch can help." Hiccup and I glanced at each other in disbelief. "Torch!" Tuff twirled his finger in a circle, and Torch began to twirl and flap his wings. I began to panic, remembering that's how a Typhoomerang summoned flames.

"Torch, no! Don't do that!" I turned around to glare at Tuffnut. "Tuff, we don't need anymore fire, especially coming from a Typhoomerang." I sighed and tugged on my ponytail. "We need to get water."

"First of all, you don't fight fire with water."

"At least, we don't."

"We fight it with fire." I stared at them in disbelief, shaking my head at their lack of logic. Hiccup, on the other hand, seemed to understand exactly what they were talking about. 

"If we clear these trees ahead of the fire, there won't be anything left that it can burn. Ruff, Tuff, that's brilliant." It shocked me how often Hiccup had said that recently.

"You need to stop saying that. They're gonna start believing they're really geniuses."

"Duh. Hello."

"We knew that. We knew we were brilliant." The trees began to collapse and crumble beneath themselves as Hiccup and I stepped forward, suddenly staring down the raging force of nature as though it were nothing.

"Okay, guys, here's the plan. When I give the signal, tell Barf and Belch to start blasting. Toothless and me are gonna do the same. Reign, you try to get Shriek to knock some of the trees backwards. Don't let them fall toward us." I nodded.

"Fight fire with fire! We should make that our catchphrase."

"Yeah! That, or: a yak's gotta do what a yak's gotta do." I squinted my eyes as I shook my head at him. "What? It's catchy! Oh, don't tell me you won't be using that."

"Oh... kay. Ready, now!" Hiccup shot his hand forward, signaling to the dragons to start shooting at the trees. Shriek and I distanced ourselves from the rest of the group, then I covered my ears as she began to roar, sending the ashy remains of trees back into the forest. "We've gotta keep it moving that way!" Hiccup cried as I uncovered my ears again. "Toothless, wind!" Toothless hovered in the air and flapped his wings in the direction of the fire.

"Barf, Belch, wings!" I smirked down at my dragon and signaled for her to begin flapping her massive wingspan at the fire, keeping it from crawling closer. "Torch, do your thing!" Torch hovered above all the other dragons, and the force from his wings creating a wing gust strong enough to really start pushing the fire back.

"Torch, now!"

Torch dove straight for the fire and began to fly in circles, causing the large flames to form a vortex around him, before it dispelled into the air, leaving the dark shadows of the burnt trees.

"Nice going, Torch!" Hiccup smiled as Torch landed behind him and I came over to stand behind him. "You too."

"And still no love for the trapped Viking." Torch made his way over to Tuff and nuzzled him affectionately as he continued to dangle from the tree. "Finally!" I chuckled and turned to look at the large Typhoomerang.

"We should head back, now that we've taken care of the fire." We all got back up onto Torch, who picked up Tuffnut as we made our way back to the village. Torch dropped Tuffnut to dangle from the twins' home before landing. Astrid, Snotlout, and Fishlegs ran over, watching in amazement as we descended down on this massive, typically aggressive, dragon.

"A Typhoomerang!" Fishlegs marveled. "Amazing!" We all slid down one of Torch's massive wings and approached the rest of our group.

"Not just any Typhoomerang. Take a closer look." Hiccup gestured up toward the dragon and waited for Fishlegs to have his moment of recognition.

"Is that... Torch?"

"No way!"

"Please tell me he didn't bring the family."

"I found him in the woods. And I trained him." Tuffnut crossed his arms smugly, seeming to forget he was still caught in a dragon trap he'd gotten himself caught in.

"He actually did. It was pretty awesome."

"No way! Tuffnut couldn't even get himself out of that trap." Snotlout had a valid argument.

"Oh yeah? Watch this. Torch, wings!" As Torch spread his wingspan, he smacked Snotlout, sending him flying back into a cart and wheeling him away. We all laughed as we watched him disappear, when a loud cry from the woods caused Torch to look back. He reached down to nuzzle Tuff again, and I understood that was another Typhoomerang calling him back home.

"Quit it! What's he doing?"

"He's saying goodbye, Tuff," Hiccup told him. 

"Oh... I'm gonna miss you, Torch. You're the only one who ever listened to me." As Torch leaned back, Tuff let out as loud of a roar as he could, causing the dragon to do the same before taking off, twirling in a few circles before heading back toward the woods. "Okay. Can you guys let me out of this trap now, or..."

"Well, I suppose." Hiccup started to step forward, but before he could, Gobber reached out and pushed him back.

"No, no. Not so fast, Hiccup," Gobber scolded. "You got yourself into that, you need to get yourself out."

"Uh..." 

We all laughed at him, and as the others walked away, Hiccup reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping me in my tracks and encouraging me to turn and face him.

"Now that we've dealt with this fire situation, you wanna take Toothless and Shriek to the cove?" he asked. The red from the setting sun couldn't hide his slight blush.

"Sure," I smiled, pulling him toward our dragons and jumping up. I kept my grip on his hand as we smiled at each other and took off.


	30. (Hiccup)

I kept a careful eye on Reign as we got closer to a large glacier. She didn't fare well in the cold, and thus, I'd pretty much forced her to fly on Toothless with me so I could make sure she didn't get too cold and pass out. She sat in front of me, trying her best not to fall off Toothless as she shuddered. I pulled myself closer to her in a desperate attempt to keep her warm as we searched for the fishing ship.

"We're getting pretty far north," she called back to me as her teeth chattered together.

"Bucket and Mulch are two days overdue. We need to keep searching."

"You don't really think they're up here, do you?" Astrid asked as she rubbed one of her arms, seemingly also beginning to bend to the cold.

"Can't take the cold, huh, Astrid?" Snotlout taunted. 

"No. I just don't have a heated seat like you do," she snapped.

"That's right. You don't."

He offered a snide thumbs-up as Hookfang ignited the bottom part of his body. Reign shuddered again, and I took note of the slight blue tint starting to creep its way up onto her. We had to work fast, otherwise she wouldn't make it back. Thankfully, I heard shouts from below, and when I looked past Reign's shaking figure, I saw a few ships at a standstill near another ice formation.

"It looks like they're in trouble. Come on, bud!"

The three dragons dove down quickly, heading straight for the ships facing each other. To absolutely no one's surprise, a group of Berserkers looked as though they were attempting to take Bucket and Mulch's ship. Impressively enough, they'd managed to either subdue or throw most of the crew overboard, but a line of defense now aimed crossbows straight at them. Astrid picked up the pace, and Stormfly whipped her tail around, shooting spines into the sides of the enemy ship that caused the lackeys to scatter and hit the deck.

"Nice shooting, Astrid!" I complimented. "Snotlout, light 'em up!"

Snotlout and Hookfang drove straight toward the gangplank, and the rider whooped as his dragon fired a shot that caused the connecting piece of wood to break apart and burn.

"Okay, bud. It's our turn."

Toothless dove down, and when we were just close enough, fired a plasma blast that caused the water to splash up and rock the Berserker boat enough to push it away from Bucket and Mulch.

"Retreat! Retreat!" The Berserkers quickly got in control of their boat and steered it in the opposite direction, allowing Bucket and Mulch to dock. The four of us landed, and I made sure to keep myself close to Reign. I winced from how cold her skin was the moment I wrapped my arms around her, and hoped we'd be done with this soon so that I could get her home. 

"What happened here?" I asked the pair of Vikings.

"Well, we thought the Berserkers had hit an iceberg," Mulch explained, "and so we came in to help. But, they attacked us because we saw... it." Astrid and I glanced at each other, confused.

"It?" she, Reign, and I asked at the same time.

"This way." 

We followed Mulch around the other side of the iceberg. He stopped right in front of a large, mostly clear patch of ice surrounded by discarded weapons. I was curious, but I didn't want to bring Reign any closer to something that would only make her colder, so I motioned for Astrid to assume the position I was leaving before I stepped forward to get a closer look. I pressed my hands against the ice and looked closer, noticing a very distinct head and long body, with wings extending from it.

"That looks like a..." I rubbed my sleeve against the surface to clear some of the fog, revealing a yellow eye and a set of small but spiky teeth. "...dragon."

"Why would Berserkers be trying to dig it out?" Reign asked as I stepped back to re-join the group.

"No idea." I reached for a small hammer and turned it in my hands, inspecting it as though it could give me an answer. "But I'm going to find out."

"Oh, great," Snotlout scoffed. "Now _we_ have to dig it out?" My eyes caught Toothless rolling around in the snow, and I knew how we were going to get this thing back to Berk.

"Actually, I have a much better idea. Get Hookfang and Stormfly. We're going to use their fire to melt the ice just enough to take this thing back to Berk."

They nodded and turned on their heels, but not before Astrid tentatively let go of Reign. I immediately raced back to her side and looked at her skin, making sure nothing was turning black or purple. The blue tint spreading was bad enough, but those colors meant frostbite, which meant we'd have to amputate something. And if that happened on my watch, I'd never be able to forgive myself.

"We're almost done here, Reign," I said to her in a calm tone, more for my benefit than her's. "We'll get you back to Berk as soon as we can." She trembled again and rubbed her icicle fingers against her pallid arms, which were mostly covered by her tunic. 

"Sorry you guys have to rush because of me." I raised an eyebrow as I reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't apologize for something you can't control, Reign."

I moved around the side of her and pulled her into a hug as Astrid and Snotlout came back with their dragons. The three of them blasted fire in a square around the trapped creature, and once the melting stretched deep enough in, I had Mulch and Bucket go get some ropes from their ship so that we could tie this thing up and take it back. We jumped up onto our dragons once the ropes were secured, and with a bit of resistance, we managed to pull it out and get ourselves into the air, finally heading back toward home.

We took the block of ice back to the Academy, and as soon as it was down, I rushed Reign back to her home, grabbing her a large blanket to wrap around herself. I tried to convince her to lay down for the rest of the day, but being Reign, she refused to listen. Before we left her hut, Azure jumped up onto her shoulders, then growled at me. He occasionally would let out a little blast of fire, as though trying to keep his trainer warm to the best of his ability. I had to admit, I was impressed with how quickly the two of them had bonded, and how strong that bond continued to be.

The others had now gathered at the Academy, contemplating how to get the dragon out of there. We all stared at it in silence for a while as we tried to come up with solutions, while Toothless sniffed the block and circled it.

"I say we smash it," Snotlout finally suggested. It was a horrible idea, but at least someone had said something.

"I say we blast it," Tuffnut offered as he and his twin jumped up on top of the ice.

"I say we blast it _and then_ smash it... and then blast it again!"

"...blast it again! Stop saying what I'm saying now!"

"Yeah, that's certainly one approach." I uncrossed my arms and stepped closer to the ice as Tuffnut cleared his throat.

Good sir, I believe it is actually _three_ approaches, my fine fellow." Thankfully, they got down just before I stopped to look at the dragon trapped inside a little closer.

"Let's just get a better look at this thing. Fishlegs, give me a slow burn."

"With pleasure. Meatlug?" He whistled to get her attention. "Lava blast." She waddles her way over to the ice block and shot out a small amount of lava, before turning around and going back to her nap. Once the steam cleared, Fishlegs and I pressed ourselves against the ice.

"Oh, man." As I got a closer look, I started to notice some distinct markings on the dragon that alarmed me.

Is that... what I think it is?"

"I think so, but I've only seen pictures." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Reign get closer to the frigid casing and curiously cock her head at the dragon trapped inside.

"Do you realize how huge this could be, Fishlegs?"

"The word 'epic' comes to mind."

"I've seen this kind of dragon before..." Reign muttered. "What is it?"

"I hate it when they get like this," Astrid grunted.

"Don't you just?" Fishlegs turned away from the ice and started to walk out, causing Reign and I to follow.

"I should check the Book of Dragons to be sure about this."

"Good idea. If we're right, this could be big trouble."

"If someone doesn't start filling me in, I'm getting my axe!" Astrid threatened as she chased the three of us.

I quickly turned back after realizing we'd left the twins and Snotlout with the block of ice.

"No one touches that block of ice while we're gone!"

There wasn't quite enough room for all of us to fit in Fishlegs' room, so the rest of us waited downstairs while he got the Book of Dragons. By the looks of it, he'd already checked it when he came back down. And reading the look on his face, I could tell our suspicions were true. Without a word, he extended the book to me, open to the entry he'd been reading. Sure enough, a drawing of the dragon we'd found sat beneath a simple name: the Skrill.

"We have to warn my dad. _Now_."

Reign and I made our way toward the Great Hall, where we found a council meeting already in session. She and I shrugged at each other and shrunk back a bit, listening and waiting for the right moment.

The council of men argued as Reign and I waited for a turn to talk. I wasn't entirely convinced she understood the magnitude of her people looking for a Skrill, but if she didn't ask, I wouldn't explain. Talking about the Berserkers or her brother only seemed to distress her more, and I didn't want to be the one to cause that.

"All right," my dad interjected, causing their arguing to fizzle out. "Calm down."

"This is an act of war!" Mulch cried, seething.

"Let's not jump to conclusions about what this attack means."

"I don't know, Stoick," Gobber whispered. "Seems pretty cut and dry to me. And if you think about it, an attack in an attack, am I right, people?" The members of the council cheered at Gobber's words.

"And thank you, Gobber..."

"Always here to help." I decided to take my chance to speak up.

"I think I know why Dagur and his men attacked Bucket and Mulch." Everyone turned their attention toward Reign, Toothless, Shriek, and I.

"Go on, son."

"We got a better look at the dragon that Bucket and Mulch found in the ice--"

"We found a dragon?" Bucket asked, genuine shock written all over his face. "Oh, can we keep it? I've always wanted my own dragon, Mulch."

"Uh... it's a Skrill."

The council went silent, save for a couple of sparse gasps, as everyone stared in our direction-- more specifically at Reign. She appeared to grow uncomfortable with the amount of eyes on her, as she shrunk back and pulled the blanket a little tighter around her.

"Oh... I don't want one of those." Mulch elbowed Bucket, hinting at him to be quiet."

"Are you sure about this, son?"

"Oh, we are sure!" Fishlegs cried, running up behind us and causing Reign to jump as he slung his arms around our shoulders. "Whoo! Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, Fishlegs!" Everyone stared at him, waiting for him to calm down. "Heh, heh. Sorry, Chief. That happens sometimes when we discover a new dragon; I-I get a little--"

"Look," I interjected, keeping Fishlegs from digging himself into a deeper hole, "it's right here." I flipped through to the right page and looked down at the drawing. "That is definitely a Skrill."

"Okay, wait, I still don't get what's so significant about the Skrills and Berserkers." Reign stuck her hand up slightly, as though she were asking a question in one of Gobber's old dragon killing classes. My dad, Gobber, and I shared a glace, and they urged me to bring her up to speed with a nod.

"Um..." I couldn't find the right words to say it, so I just awkwardly gestured to her belt buckle. She'd put the one we'd found on her when she first got here back on, despite claiming to be ashamed to be a Berserker. Her eyes flashed down to the silver disk, and she looked over it and the symbol on it before rolling her eyes.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." Reign turned to make her way out of the Great Hall, and my father, Gobber, Fishlegs, and myself followed her out as Gobber continued to marvel at the Skrill's abilities.

"Legend has it the lightning comes from the Skrill's mouth!" He shouted, raising his fist in the air. "And Thunder from its... well, you know."

"Remind me never to get behind one," Reign groaned.

"That's actually inaccurate. According to the Book of Dragons, the Skrill drew lightning from the clouds and re-directed it."

"And could use that lightning to hit several targets at once, which is why it was such a feared dragon."

"It could also store the lightning in its body and use it later."

"I've heard enough." Reign stepped out in front of all of us and protruded her hand out, keeping either of us from continuing. "We need to get rid of that Skrill. It's just the excuse my brother needs to go to war. Not to mention the fact this dragon is our clan's symbol really cements the fact my people are insane."

"You all know I love a good fight as much as the next person, but why not just give it to them?" Reign scoffed and turned to stare up at Gobber. "It's just a frozen dragon carcass, after all."

"Actually, because of their internal body temperature, Skrill's can stay safely frozen for decades." Reign chukled bitterly as the rest of us took on expressions of shock.

"Looks like that Skrill and I have something in common," she joked. Everyone turned to her and shot her silencing glares, and she awkwardly cleared her throat before shuffling her feet. "Let's, um... let's get to that ice and hope those three hooligans didn't do anything." She quickly pushed her way in front of everyone else, leading us back toward the Academy. 

"Hooligans?" I turned to my dad with a slightly red face.

"Snotlout, Ruff, and Tuff." My dad went silent for a second, as though trying to process what I'd just told him as we followed Reign. 

"So, let me be clear: this dragon may still be alive, and you left Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout to guard it."

"Well, that... sounds much worse when you say it," I sighed, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. "But it's-it's frozen solid in a block of ice. How much damage could it possibly do?"

A large explosion suddenly went up from the Academy, one definitely strong enough to melt all of the ice around the Skrill. There was no rationalizing our decision at this point...

Toothless made a huge leap and sprinted toward the Academy, while the rest of us all looked at each other before taking off behind him. Bright flashes of lightning made the sky blue, electrifying the air as a petrifying roar pierced through the thunder. 

"Great. So now the Skrill is out..." We watched its figure ascend above the cloud cover, fingers of lightning slithering their way through them as we reached the Academy.

"It was their fault!" Snotlout immediately accused, pointing right at the twins.

"Hey! He stole our plan!"

"I told you guys to leave it alone," I sighed. 

"It... jumped us." Tuff crossed his arms as he jumped off his dragon. "Sneaky dragon."

"From inside a block of ice?" I questioned. 

"Eh... _very_ sneaky dragon."

"Oh... gods." I glanced over to see my father holding a chunk of ice that had scattered when the Skrill escaped. "What is it, Dad?"

"When I was a lad, my father's father would sit me on his knee and tell me stories." He threw the ice away and stood. "I thought they were just tales."

"Tales about... what?"

"Berserker fleets attacking behind harnessed dragons that brought down lightning from the sky and destroyed everything in their path." I watched as the color drained from Reign's face.

"You don't think the Berserkers could actually control a Skrill?" I asked warily.

"I didn't think anyone could ride a Night Fury. We just can't take the chance. If the Berserkers find that Skrill, and know some way to control it..."

"We'll find it, Dad. I promise." I turned to the rest of the group. "All right, gang. We have to leave first thing in the morning and go find that Skrill." I turned to Reign and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Reign, I think you should stay here. I don't want to risk something happening to you when we go back out into the cold." She shook her head and looked up at me, pulling the blanket closed around her.

"I'll just bring this thing with me."

"No, Reign, I really don't think that's a good idea. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Hiccup, I should come with you." I tried to keep my frustration down. I knew she was stubborn, but she could be in real danger this time. "No, listen to me. If I'm a Berserker, maybe it's, like, in my blood to be able to control this thing." I hated to admit she had a point. "Look, the moment I feel like I can't keep going, I'll turn around." 

"Oh, no, no. You're gonna be with Toothless and I the whole time. No arguments." She opened her mouth to try and rebuttal, but clamped it shut just as quickly and smiled at me. "What?"

"You're wonderful," she sighed, then leaned forward and kissed me. "I'll see you in the morning."

Toothless nudged me with something resembling a smirk on her face.

"She's really something, huh, bud?"

The next morning, we all met at the Academy and got ready to go. Reign and I made sure the blanket was tight around her, and that she had enough food to keep Azure fueled enough to make sure he could keep Reign warm. Shriek would be flying with us, just for Reign's sake, but I didn't want her to ride on her dragon. With everyone geared up, we got onto our dragons and took off. We managed to go a while without anyone saying anything, but eventually, people started to get impatient. 

"Any idea what we do _after_ we find it?" Astrid asked.

"We catch it, we tame it, we train it," I answered simply. "Keep it away from Dagur so he doesn't use it against us."

"Oh, yeah, that sounds easy enough," Reign deadpanned. 

"Actually, the Skrill _does_ have some weaknesses," Fishlegs piped up. "According to the Book of Dragons, it can't redirect any lightning if it's in the water."

"That's a start."

"No! A start would be having any clue where this stupid thing is. We've been circling the island for hours, and I'm _starving_." Snotlout's eyes flickered to the bag of little fish Reign had been progressively feeding Azure. She continued to look forward, until she felt a pair of eyes watching her, and she glared at Snotlout.

"Don't even think about it."

"Snotlout, you just said something unintentionally brilliant."

"Of course I did!" His expression faltered as he attempted to follow my logic. "What was it again?"

"When you wake up in the morning, what's the very first thing you want to do?"

"Oh, no, don't ask him that." Reign's face scrunched up in disgust.

"Well, usually I have to--" 

"No, after that." I slapped one of his hands against his forehead.

"Oh! Eat."

"Exactly. Fishlegs?" He and Meatlug lowered down closer to us. "What is the Skrill's food of choice?" Fishlegs smiled, and we all followed him down to Silent Sven's pen of sheep. He went to go get the Viking, while the rest of us played with the animals. Sven came out and began waving his staff around in an attempt to communicate. I had no idea what he was trying to say, but Reign-- for whatever reason-- knew exactly what he was telling us.

"And then you fought off the Skrill?" she asked, her tone indicating she didn't believe him. "With your head?" He nodded.

"Hey. This guy, Silent Sven? Remind me not to wrestle any more sheep from his farm." Sven charged forward and held his spear right in Snotlout's face, threatening him. "Heh, heh heh."

"Uh... he's silent. Not deaf." Snotlout pushed the spear away, and Astrid shoved him.

"Any idea which way the Skrill went?" 

Just as Sven shook his head, a clap of thunder directed our attentions upward. Trails of lightning shot through the clouds and down into the water, moving further and further from Berk.

"That way?" We all jumped back on our dragons and followed the storm headed away from us.

"Shh... it's okay, baby," Fishlegs whispered to Meatlug as the whimpered. "Nothing's gonna hurt you. Nothing can get you up here."

"Hold up, everybody!" I called back as the lightning got closer. The outline of the Skrill came into view through the cloud cover, and became less blurred as it flew its way closer to us.

"Okay... now what?"

"Everybody stay back. If the Skrill sees just one dragon, maybe it won't attack." Toothless flew closer to the clouds, but we were forced to stop when lightning flashed right before we were about to go in.

"This is insane!" Reign shouted over the noise. I could see the Skrill just below us, and we dove down toward it. Hopefully, we could shoot past it, and it would turn around and follow us into the water. But instead, it went underneath Toothless and I and swooped, just barely hitting the others. We continued to chase it, coming up right beside it. The Skrill lowered its gaze at us and snarled.

"Hey, there, fella. You've been asleep a long time, huh?" I tried to reach my hand out, but the Skrill electrified itself, growling again.

"Let me try, Hiccup."

Reign leaned out to the side more, extending her hand to the dragon. Its angered gaze seemed to relax as it sniffed her hand, and I was almost amazed, until it growled again and summoned lightning.

"So, I'm guessing you're pretty cranky... and hungry, too?"

"Not helping, Hiccup!" Reign managed to touch him, but she immediately pulled her hand back and hissed as it shocked her before flying away. "Ow..."

"Are you okay?"

She didn't have a chance to answer before the Skrill shot up in front of us and hovered. Despite the bolts of lightning coming threateningly close to her face, Reign _stood up_ on the back of Toothless and stretched her arm out. I wanted to yank her back down, but there wasn't a way to do that without putting her in danger. And I had to admit, there was something cool about her standing on the back of a dragon-- a Night Fury, no less-- with what looked like a cloak hanging from her and another little dragon on her shoulders, reaching out in an attempt to calm one of the most dangerous dragons in the archipelago. 

But, above everything else, it was too dangerous.

"Reign! Come on, please sit down!"

"Quiet, Hiccup!" She shouted down at me. "I'm trying to deal with this."

"Well we need to move out of the way!" She crouched down onto Toothless as though she were in pursuit of something on the ground, just barely gripping onto Toothless with one of her hands. "This is such a bad idea!"

"Do you have a better one?"

A bolt of lightning struck just in front of her face, causing her to teeter before falling back down into a sitting position.

"You okay?"

"Sure. Just get me back in close." I shook my head.

"No. If we get closer to it, you're staying like this." I turned back to the others. "Follow me! I've got an idea!" Toothless and I shot below the cloud cover, with the others in tow. "We're gonna dive through the clouds from above, and drive that Skrill down to you guys so we can all drive it into the water."

"Got it." Tuffnut kept a blank expression in his face as he processed. "No... I don't. Sorry. Could we go back to the first part, about how you're in the cloud? Or is the cloud in you? It's-It's all... it's sort of nebulous for me. Like a cloud!"

"Just... do what everyone else does," I sighed, exasperated.

"And how exactly are we gonna find the Skrill in that cloud?" Astrid shouted.

"Toothless doesn't need to see to find something, remember?"

"Does that work in clouds?" Reign asked, whipping around to look at me with a panicked expression.

"There's only one way to find out." She shook her head and turned back around. 

"I hate that you choose when I'm on him to experiment," she grumbled. 

We shot high enough into the clouds that we'd nearly left the layer, and almost immediately dove back down, the fog keeping us from seeing the ever-nearing water.

"Toothless! Now!" He fired a blast straight down, and after a few seconds, the roar of the Skrill pierced through the sharp whistling of the wind. Its jagged figure came into view, and it screamed as Toothless continued to fire blasts in its direction. We managed to get it just above the water, and the others sped up in order to catch up with us. Stormfly fired a long magnesium blast in its direction, discouraging it from going back up into the clouds.

"It's working!" Ruff and Tuff came up beside the Skrill.

"Time to give this dragon a bath."

"I bet he hates it as much as we do!" The green gas spilled from Barf's mouth, and Belch ignited it, causing an explosion that covered up whatever hit them to send them flying back. A boulder flew out at Astrid, nearly missing her. Reign let out a Thunderdrum call to bring Shriek to her before jumping onto her dragon's back.

"We're under attack!" A group of arrows shot up at Toothless and I, and another one caused Fishlegs to nearly jump off of Meatlug. For a moment, we lost the Skrill, but it came back to us and hovered just behind Snotlout and Hookfang, staring them down as it summoned bolts of lightning.

"Oh, no." It fired several shots at them, but thankfully, they managed to dodge them all. Well, all except for the very last one, which struck Snotlout's helmet, causing him to twitch before passing out. As Toothless and I flew forward, the clouds began to clear, and I noticed three ships below, one with a distinct dragon painted onto the sail. Reign caught up to me and looked down at the trio, before she leaned back slightly and her eyes went wide.

"Uh... is that...?" The soldiers on the boat below fired arrows right at us, causing us to pull back slightly. Three boulders shot up toward us, and while Toothless managed to shatter two by blasting them, the third went straight for Fishlegs and Meatlug. Thankfully, Meatlug caught it in her mouth and ate it, keeping them from harm.

"Let's get out of range before they reload." Fishlegs and Meatlug whizzed past the two of us.

"Already ahead of you!"

"Let's go, bud." Most of us started to fly toward a nearby sea stack, but I noticed Reign suddenly pull on Shriek and turn her around. Sighing, I pulled Toothless around and flew to her. "Reign, we have to go."

"We can't let Dagur get the Skrill!"

"And he won't. But if we stay here, we're easy targets, and then we won't be able to keep the Skrill away from them." She shook her head, but gave in and followed Toothless and I to meet the others. I looked over and noticed Snotlout's helmet still smoking. "Uh, Snotlout? Are you okay?" Tuffnut laughed.

"He's better than okay. Did you see that lightning bolt to the head?" Snotlout attempted to speak, but all that came out was gibberish.

"Tuffnut's right. He's better than okay." The smile on Astrid's face wasn't something unexpected. "And making more sense than usual."

"Okay, he's out of it, so the rest of us will--" Snotlout interjected with more gibberish, and I blinked at him for a moment. 

"Snotlout, we have no idea what we're saying."

"Sure we do. He said, 'I'm perfectly fine'." Snotlout spouted nonsense again. "Said it again! I told him." He turned back around to look at the rest of us. "What? I speak post-lightning Snotlout."

"How many times has this kid been hit by lightning?" There was a part of me that didn't want to know the answer.

"Often enough." Snotlout babbled. "Oh? Twelve? Twelve times." He spouted absolutely nothing with a determined look on his face. "He said, 'enough talk. Dagur's all mine'. And, Tuffnut is the toughest of us all." I assumed Snotlout protested. "He implied the last part." I groaned, growing frustrated with the group, and placed my head in my hands.

"Well, you heard the man, Astrid. Take Snotlout and Fishlegs and try to keep the Berserker ships occupied. The twins, Reign, and I will go after the Skrill."

"If Dagur gets his hands on it first, we won't stand a chance." I saw the anger overtaking Reign's face at the thought of her brother taking the Skrill from us. "But we have to be careful. The lightning is attracted to metal, and you two are wearing a lot more of it than the rest of us."

We broke off into two groups, and we headed off toward where we'd last seen the Skrill. I knew Reign was eyeing me with caution, but I'd make sure to stay further back from the Skrill. As much as I hated the idea of sending her into danger, she was our best bet to tame this thing. For a split second, it stopped and looked at her without hostility, and we needed that.

"Okay. I think I have a way to get the Skrill into the water, but it's super risky."

"You, my friend, are speaking our language." Tuffnut cackled as he glanced at his sister.

"Basically, you're gonna fly blind through the cloud and have Barf let out as much gas as possible. Don't let Belch ignite it until you get to the other side."

"Feel my heart." Tuffnut placed a hand over his chest. "Because it comes forth, and is bursting through my chest."

"Hopefully, the blast will drive the Skrill out of the clouds toward Toothless and I, where we can knock it down with a plasma blast."

"That's a lot of gas. Do you have any idea how big a blast that will be?"

"No," I answered honestly.

"Me, either! How awesome is this?"

The twins flew into the thick of the clouds, and Reign and I pulled back to wait for them to finish the job. It took a few seconds, but a huge explosion nearly cleared the clouds, and the Skrill emerged from inside its hiding place. Toothless and I rolled out of the way at the last second, and before it came back for us, Reign turned to me.

"I'm gonna go back for the twins! You hold your own until then."

She and Shriek turned back around and headed toward where the twins had last been seen, while I went to chase after the Skrill.

"It's going back up!" Toothless and I chased it as bolts of lightning shot down on either side of us, threatening to strike if we veered too much. "Okay, bud. Not too much. Just enough to bring him down." Toothless fired a plasma blast at the Skrill, but it turned around and fired a bolt of lightning that caused a bright explosion, which allowed it to get away. "Okay, that's a new one." An idea popped into my head. "Well, let's see how he handles _this_." Toothless dove, and me flew next to the Skrill, firing a few plasma blasts at it, but it countered each one with its own lightning. I had to cover my eyes to keep from going blind, and the Skrill took that split second to get away and draw more lightning before coming toward us again. "This is bad..." Toothless and I turned around, and now the Skrill was chasing us. " _This_ is worse." It tried to hit us with lightning, and thankfully, none of the bolts got close enough to hit us. Right when I looked back, it fired a bolt just above my head, forcing me to duck. "Ohh, that one made my hair stand on end. We need a plan, and fast." 

The Skrill nearly clamped its jaws down on Toothless and I, when a fireball suddenly knocking into it from above and caused it to fall.

"Yoo-hoo! Remember us?" I looked back to see the twins barreling toward us. "Gas me, Ruff."

"With pleasure." Barf opened his mouth, but all that came out were a few wisps. "Ugh." The Skrill shot a large lightning blast at them and began chasing them back, forcing Toothless and I to follow. We managed to get in front of it, and as it fired another blast of lightning, Toothless shot out a large plasma blast, causing a huge, blinding explosion that sent us all flying in different directions. I felt Toothless and I land on something solid, and when I opened my eyes, I saw, just to my luck, we'd landed on one of the Berserker ships.

"Hiccup..." Dagur got up from the deck as Toothless growled.

"Sorry about your deck." We took off again and flew back into the clouds. I met up with Fishlegs, Astrid and Snotlout, and I tried to see if I could find the Skrill, but I couldn't even see an outline. "Did anybody see where the Skrill went?"

"No."

"Nope." Snotlout answered with meaningless letters strung together.

"Anyone see where the twins ended up?"

"No." My breath hitched in my throat. "I didn't even see Reign come out after she went back to get them. She... might've gotten lost." 

I wanted to head back out there, but Astrid stopped me.

"Hiccup, we should collect ourselves before we go."

I looked back into the clouds again, then sighed and followed her, my mind racing with the Skrill, the twins, and Reign.


	31. (Reign)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So things are going to be a little different here. I wanted to give Reign a total female empowerment moment, which will come near the end of the chapter :)

A crescendo of thunder caused my eyes to fly open, right as it peaked. My heart pounded quickly as I attempted to figure out what was going on, or where I was. The barren wasteland around me tipped me off that I, unfortunately, hadn't landed on Berk. My eyes attempted to adjust in the darkness, but it wasn't until an intense flash of lightning that I figured it out. The decaying, leafless trees, the faint lights and battle cry-esque yelling from the form of an arena not too far off into the distance.

Of course, of all the places in the archipelago, I had to land on Outcast Island.

Based on the intense storm right above us, I assumed they'd taken the Skrill from us and had it down in that stupid dragon fighting arena. Ignoring the soreness that overtook me, I managed to sit up and reach out for my sword. My legs wobbled a bit as I stood, and once I was steady, I snuck closer to the arena, trying to get a better look. If Alvin were going to keep the Skrill anywhere, it would be down there. I tried my best to keep myself hidden-- a feat all of its own when you have bright red hair-- as I peered over the rocks right above the arena. A group of Outcasts were gathering around closer to the center, and I could hear the roars and thrashing against chains from the Skrill. 

"That's a lot of Outcasts."

I jumped and immediately pulled the shield from my back, swinging my arm out to hit whoever had said that. I felt the strong wood strike something, and a familiar voice cried out in pain. Slowly, I lowered the piece of protection and stared at the figure of Hiccup, holding the side of his head in pain. Toothless sniffed his rider before looking at me with wide eyes, asking why I would hit Hiccup. 

"Oh, my gods. Hiccup, I'm so sorry," I whispered as I crawled forward and helped him back up. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. I forgot you pack quite the punch." I chuckled before peering back down toward the arena.

"What are you planning, Alvin?"

"All I know is he's been planning something big with that Skrill." Hiccup casually glanced back at Ruffnut, who had popped up from behind another rock. I stared her down, shocked. Did everyone just end up here somehow? 

"Alvin has the Skrill-- wait! Ruff?" A smile formed on Hiccup's face, indicating to me he'd been out looking for us. "You're-you're alive! I-I-I don't believe it! Where's Tuff?" I slightly whipped my head around to look at Hiccup, who seemed to be a lot more excited to see Ruffnut than me. I mean, I get he probably didn't expect to find both of us in the same place, and I'd hit him in the head with a shield, but still.

Ruffnut's expression dropped as she looked at us. "He didn't make it, Hiccup."

"What?" She paused for a moment, continuing to look at the rock below her, before it quickly snapped into a mischievous smirk. 

"Kidding! He's right behind you." The two of us turned around and squinted at a tree in front of us, trying to figure out where he was. 

"What's up, Hiccup?" Tuff's muffled voice asked from right in front of us. Was he... inside the tree? "Cool disguise, huh? It's kinda itchy."

"Uh... yeah. Not bad." The two of us glanced at each other and shrugged, not really sure what to make of the situation. I wasn't really sure how he'd get out of there, but if he got in, I suppose it couldn't be that hard. 

"Yeah. Tuff hollowed out that tree so he couldn't be seen," Ruff told us, smirking as she stood uncomfortably close to my ear. "Problem is, he can't move."

"And I have Bark Beetles in my pants." Toothless approached the tree and curiously sniffed it, looking confused as to why Tuffnut's voice was coming out of something he'd previously established in his mind to be inanimate. "I'm starting to like them..." I crinkled my nose in disgust. "Hey, fellas, a little to the left. Really scratch around down there. See what you can find."

"That's... an image I could do without," I sighed, shaking my head slightly. 

"Wait a second. How did you guys end up here?" 

"When I went back for the twins, I got nicked by a bolt of lightning. I passed out, but Shriek must've flown until she found land, which... just happened to be this place," I informed him.

"Alvin grabbed the Skrill out of the water, we decided to follow it."

"Weird, right?" I stood there, starting at the tree, dumbfounded. Lately, the twins had somehow been proving they were geniuses, while at the same time getting themselves into the dumbest situations. 

"No. Actually, it was good you followed it."

"We knew that. That's... why we did it."

"Okay." Hiccup didn't seem convinced, but he decided to move on. "Let's figure out what Alvin plans on doing with that dragon."

Lightning illuminated the clouds and thunder shouted as Hiccup leaned down and pulled out his spyglass to get a better look at the arena. Neither of us could hear what Alvin said, but when he emerged, he raised his arms in a grand gesture, and a few Outcast lackeys began dragging a Skrill out with as much strength as they could muster. It thrashed against the ropes tying it down, causing them to fling wildly. The moment its large body emerged from the cage, it spread its large wings and roared, attempting to intimidate the men before it. 

"Yep," I sighed. "There it is." 

"Yeah..." I heard Tuffnut mutter from the tree.

"Man, this is not good."

"No..."

"We are in serious trouble."

"With a capital 'T'-- no... 'S'. Wait..." I rolled my eyes and focused back on Alvin and his men. "Would you capitalize 'serious' or 'trouble'? Both?" Frustrated, Hiccup and I whipped around to glare at the tree. "I'll shut up now."

"Hang on..." Hiccup placed the spyglass in my hands and pointed me in the direction he'd been looking. My eye focused on a familiar old man approaching the pair of Outcasts. 

"Mildew," I groaned. He looked off in another direction, and I followed him to see another set of soldiers, this group different from the ones normally seen on Outcast Island. "That's... weird. Those look like Berserker soldiers." My heart lept up into my throat as I watched Dagur confidently stride toward Alvin. "Dagur? Dagur and Alvin together..." I set the spyglass down, "with the Skrill? Really not good." 

Intruiged, Tuffnut managed to get himself out of the tree and come to stand beside us. I sighed and stood back up, my eyes darting back and forth between the people around me as I tried to come up with a plan. Hiccup took back his spyglass and continued to give me a concerned look. My anger rose every second I thought of the two groups conspiring, attempting to control a poor dragon. A dragon I'd somehow connected with.

A new sort of determination filled me, and I turned around to face the others. My hands clenched into fists as I looked Hiccup in the eyes.

"We have to sneak into town and find up what Dagur and Alvin are up to. Hiccup and I can't go; they'd recognize us. Ruff?"

"Outcast food gives me gas," she immediately said. 

"Yet another image I can live without." I shook my head before turning to the other twin. "Okay, Tuff. Looks like you're up. You need to go down there and get as much info as you can without being seen."

"Way ahead of you!" He seemed a little too excited for this to work. "I'll move like the wind. They won't even see me coming!"

Tuff dropped onto the ground and began to crawl over the rock. After a few seconds, gravity took over, and he went tumbling down, somehow managing to survive as he slid right in front of the arena. I sighed and shook my head, hoping he could make it through this without getting caught. 

I rested one of my feet on the rock and leaned against my leg, staring down at the arena. There was a chance I could get down there and tame that Skrill, get it to be on our side. But there was no way I could get down there without being caught, and Shriek was too tired to be able to carry me down. Not to mention the fact she was a large, heavy dragon and could easily be spotted. I needed to get down there _somehow_ , get the upper hand on my brother.

"Reign..." 

I immediately jumped as my heart rate spiked again, nearly elbowing Hiccup in the face as I turned around.

" _Whoa!_ You're jumpy today," he chuckled.

"It's been a strange few hours," I muttered, turning back to stare at the arena. Hiccup hesitated for a second, before placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I know that look." I looked at him as I stood up straight. "What are you thinking?"

"I need to get down there and try and tame that Skrill." Hiccup cleared his throat, ready to interject into my insanity. "Don't try and talk me out of this one. I almost did it when we were chasing it earlier. Maybe it's... I don't know, in my blood or something."

"Reign--"

"I know I hate that I'm a Berserker, but maybe just this once..." I crossed my arms over my stomach. "Maybe it can help us."

"How are you supposed to get down there without being seen?" I moved my eyes to the horizon, watching as the sky began to paint itself with orange and pink to prepare for the sunrise. 

"I don't know, but I have to try something. Maybe if Tuffnut comes back, we can use him as some sort of diversion." I shrugged as I allowed myself to look at Hiccup again. "But I may just have to charge in there and hope I don't get caught. One thing's for sure, though: we're not leaving without that Skrill. It's too dangerous in Alvin's hands, and even more so in my brother's."

As I attempted to formulate some sort of plan, Tuffnut came running back up the slope in the rocks, a look fueled by pure adrenaline coating his face. He sat down on one of the flat rocks, and Hiccup, Ruff, and I filed in across from him, eager to hear what he'd learned.

"The plan is to smash those dirty Berkians to pieces with both fleets! It's gonna be awesome." Hiccup and I glanced at each other, waiting for him to pick up on what was odd about that sentence before Hiccup spoke up. 

"Yeah, um... you do realize _we're_ the Berkians?" Tuffnut's expression immediately shifted.

"Oh, right." He hesitated for a moment. "It's still gonna be awesome."

"Two fleets and a Skrill are gonna be pretty tough to beat." Hiccup stood and placed a hand on his chin, trying to think things through. 

"Alvin has made it pretty clear Dagur doesn't get the Skrill until _after_ they destroy Berk. I think they have trust issues." The moment I processed Tuffnut's sentence, I nearly shot up.

"Wait, what did you just say?"

"I said they have trust issues." I ignored the condescending notes in his tone

"No. You said Dagur doesn't get the Skrill until after the attack. Think about it: no Skrill, no alliance. No alliance, no invasion." I began bouncing on my toes as I faced the group again. "Tuff, I need you to get back into town and distract the arena guard. Shriek and I are gonna free that Skrill." 

"Uh, hang on a sec," Tuffnut interjected. "I'm pretty sure Dagur threatened to cut my legs off."

"So?" his sister challenged, smirking at him.

"I just wanted to put that out there." He looked his sister in the eye, neither of their expressions moving. "Ugh, fine. I'm going. But my legs are on your head." He pointed an accusatory finger at his other half, who remained unflinching. "Not... I mean, not- you'll be thinking about these legs.

"Okay..." I turned around and made my way over to Shriek, who had been laying down and attempting to recover from the tumble we took. Her yellow eyes slowly opened, looking at me with exhaustion as I smiled at her. "We have to go save another dragon."

She managed to pick herself up, and as the clouds rolled in, the two of us descended closer to the arena. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears as I looked down at the grim circle where I had once stood, attempting to tame a Monstrous Nightmare for my escape. Somehow, we always seemed to be drawn back to Outcast Island, no matter how hard we tried to keep away.

I climbed off my tired dragon and leaned over to see the arena guards already laying on the ground, unconscious. 

"Good job, Tuff," I whispered, thoroughly impressed. "That was quick."

Carefully, I climbed my way down and landed right between the two guards. With a glance around, I made my way forward to find the Skrill. If I could pull this off, we might never have to worry about Dagur or the Outcasts again. This dragon could be our first defense. 

But when I approached its cage, I found the bars burnt and melted, with charred ropes laying on the ground. I reached down and held one of them in my hand as Shriek sniffed it. 

"It's gone." I jumped as I heard a clanking above me, but felt relieved when I saw it was only Tuffnut. 

"Oh, good. I thought I was too late." He swung his way through the bars that made up the roof and jumped down, somehow not injuring himself in the process. "Nice job with those guards, by the way." I quirked an eyebrow at him and released the rope.

"What-what are you talking about? And where's the Skrill?" Tuffnut looked around, confused, before turning to see the empty cage.

"Uh oh."

"Uh, _yeah_ uh oh," I snapped. 

"If you don't have the Skrill, and I don't have the Skrill, then who has the Skrill?" From behind us, I heard uproarious shouts begin to rise. The gates to the arena burst open, and I quickly dashed away, knowing full well we couldn't afford to get caught.

"Gotta go."

"The Skrill is gone," I heard a soldier cry. "Sound the alarm." A horn pierced through the cacophony of voices, alerting every Outcast there was a problem. I swung my leg around to get myself up onto Shriek.

"Tuff, you go get Ruff and Hiccup. I'm gonna try and find that Skrill before Dagur does."

I patted Shriek's neck to make her take off, and when we got high enough into the sky, I saw a fleet of Berserker ships approaching the Outcasts. Alvin and Dagur stood at the front of their ships, deadlocked in a starting contest as they shouted at each other before Dagur raised his axe and cut away a rope behind the sail. The cloth fell away slightly to reveal the Skrill, roaring angrily and drawing lightning into its body.

"Okay, girl," I whispered to my dragon, leaning down so she could hear me better. "Let's go get that Skrill."

As Dagur and Alvin fought on the deck of the Berserker ship, I tried to get Shriek in as close as possible. I might have to take a leap of faith, but at this point, I was willing to try anything. I just needed to get the Skrill out of Dagur's hands. What we did with it from there would depend on whether or not I could tame this thing. I was just about to swoop down, when Dagur used Alvin's body as a spring board and grabbed the ropes on the Skrill. It screamed and summoned more lightning before firing in Alvin's direction several times before forcing him to jump ship. But Dagur wouldn't give up, and he made the Skrill fire into the water, causing a large explosion of blue light to bubble up in the water before fading away. Alvin never emerged from the water, the only sign he had been down there was his helmet floating to the surface. 

"That's not good..." I watched as Dagur spoke to the Outcast soldiers. "I need to come up with a new plan, and fast."

With slight regret, I turned around and headed back to shore, finding the others waiting. Hiccup immediately raced toward me, but I refused to leave Shriek.

"It looks like Dagur's made a deal with the Outcasts. Alvin's..." I sucked in a breath. "Most likely dead. I need to get in there and at least get on that Skrill, but Dagur has it on ropes he won't let go of."

Shouts on the horizon drew my eyes over to the ocean, where I saw the fleet of ships coming back into the docks. They were going to re-group, and it wouldn't be long after that until they'd go to attack Berk. 

"I need ideas here, guys," I begged, my voice wavering slightly. They all glanced at each other, before Hiccup turned back around and got up on Toothless.

"I can distract Dagur and let you get close to the Skrill. But you'll have to be fast," he warned. 

"Hiccup..." I sighed and leaned against my hands before sitting back up. I hated asking him to do something like this, but we were out of options. "Please be careful." 

"You, too." Hiccup took off before I left the ground, and I watched as he approached the docks, shouting. "Why wait?"

With that, Shriek took off, and we snuck around the armada. I could see Dagur's ship from here, I just needed to get there without a Berserker or an Outcast seeing me. Thor, this would have been so much easier if I'd done this the first time. 

"Hiccup..." Dagur growled.

"I thought we'd settle this like real Vikings. Just you and me."

Shriek hovered in front of the Skrill, their golden eyes locking. I thought it would immediately begin to scream and thrash, but it remained oddly silent, offering both of us curious looks. I'd seen Hiccup do this a thousand times, I'd even done it a couple myself. The Skrill had even more of a temper than my Thunderdrum, so it could be I had a limited window once I tamed it. But at the moment, it seemed to trust me, and I'd take that.

Slowly, I inched my way forward and extended my hand out. The Skrill growled at me, so I closed my eyes and turned my head away, hoping that would work. For a while, I felt nothing, then right before I opened my eyes, a scaly nose pressed into my palm and nuzzled it. A wide smile stretched onto my face as I opened my eyes and faced the Skrill again. Shriek hovered closer to the dragon, and I managed to swing my legs over its body and climb on.

The dragon suddenly began to list, and I looked down to see Dagur holding the ropes. I... hadn't thought this part through...

"Me and my Skrill against you and your Night Fury?"

Dagur yanked on the ropes, angering the dangerous dragon. It didn't shoot yet, but I had to be careful. Another tug on those ropes and I'd be in serious danger. Hiccup's eyes went wide as he looked at me, sitting on the back of one of the most tempestuous dragons in the archipelago, trying to come up with a plan. I casually waved and raised a finger to my lips to keep him from giving me away, then very carefully, I stood and spread my feet apart to attempt and take a stance that would both help me keep my balance, and hopefully lessen the pain of a shock if the Skrill channeled more lightning.

"Take this!"

The Skrill shot lightning from its mouth, throwing me slightly and causing Hiccup and Toothless to fly out of the way. I couldn't fall, otherwise Dagur would see me (and, of course, I would get hurt), and this whole thing would be worthless. Dagur allowed the Skrill to pull him up onto the rock of the island, while Hiccup and Toothless landed on the other side of the gap. It fired another blast of lightning, chasing the pair off the ground again. I needed to do something _fast_ , otherwise we wouldn't get our chance. Dagur continued to use the Skrill to chase Hiccup and Toothless, and a plan started to form in my mind. I either needed to cut the ropes, or just jump down and take out Dagur. Both of those were risky and stupid, but those were the only real options I had. The two finally came to a stop, and I got ready to jump.

"Want to see superior warrior-ness?" Dagur taunted. "Just keep watching."

"Really, Dagur? I'm still here!" I jumped off the back of the Skrill and managed to land without Dagur spotting me. "Fire Toothless, now!" Toothless fired a couple of plasma blasts at the dragon to distract it.

"That's it?" Dagur cackled as he spoke. "I was hoping for something more challenging."

I took my chance. With a sudden burst of strength, I lunged forward and knocked Dagur to the ground, grabbing the ropes from his hands just before he let them go. He laid there in shock for a moment, attempting to process what happened before turning around to stare up at me with wide eyes. I smirked as I looked down on him, suddenly feeling incredibly powerful.

"What? You said you wanted a challenge," I teased. 

"Sister? But... where? And how?" My fingers released the ropes, and I raised a hand in the air, keeping the Skrill by my side. It flew a little closer to the ground and roared.

"I'm a Berserker. _That's_ how."

With a simple gesture forward, the Skrill fired a blast of lightning at Dagur, causing him to writhe in pain before falling off the edge, unconscious. The Skrill remained in the air and began to scream wildly, while Shriek landed next to me and allowed me to climb up on her back. 

"I really don't think he's gonna be leading an invasion anytime soon." The Skrill had lost control of itself again. It thrashed in the air and fired a blast of lightning at Hiccup and Toothless, causing them to jump out of the way. "Whoa! Wish I could say the same for this guy!" 

Hiccup and Toothless took off, and the Skrill began to chase them. I followed close behind, unsure of what to do. I didn't even know where Hiccup and Toothless were going, but at this rate, I hoped it wasn't back to Berk. I saw Hiccup's head turn to the left and stay there, and I followed his gaze to see a glacier. I groaned as they took a sharp left, heading right for it. I absolutely _hated_ the cold, but I couldn't just sit out here and wait for them. I followed Hiccup and the Skrill toward the glacier, trying my best to contain the shivers as we neared the large chunk of ice. The Skrill suddenly fired lightning at the ice, causing a large bit of it to fall and nearly crush Hiccup and Toothless into the water. They managed to just slip past it against the large formation and lure the Skrill into a tunnel in the glacier. My hand flew to my mouth and I watched with wide eyes, waiting for something, _anything_ to happen that would give me a sign of life. The world was dead silent for a moment, causing my heart rate to rise.

Then, from over the other side of the ice, Hiccup and the twins emerged, coming closer to Shriek and I. A felt a sudden shudder of cold pass through me as my muscles relaxed, indicating to me it was time to go home. The twins led as Hiccup lingered behind to talk to me.

"That thing back there with the Skrill?" I turned and looked at him with a curious gaze. "It was stupid, but... also really impressive."

My cheeks turned red as I looked down at my dragon, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

Maybe being a Berserker wasn't so bad after all.


	32. (Hiccup)

“Hey, Hiccup?”

I turned my head and smiled at the redhead hovering to my right. The early colors of the morning sky cast a soft shine on her features that almost made it appear as though she were glowing, her jade eyes brighter than ever. 

“I’m all for a morning flight, and I get this is what you and Toothless do all the time, but did it have to be this early?” He whining immediately snapped me out of my daze.

”Oh, come on, Reign,” I scoffed. “You have to admit this has been fun.”

”I never said that,” she defended, putting her hands up in surrender. “I’m just saying it’s really early, and some of us are kept up late by our housemates training in the middle of the night.” I chuckled as Reign settled back down onto Shriek.

”I’d expect you’d be used to Astrid’s noise by now.” She laughed and shook her head at me.

”She’s not the problem. It’s this little one I have to worry about.” She pointed her thumb at Azure, peacefully curled up on her shoulders. “He’ll get up in the middle of the night and start blaring like we’re being attacked. I love him, but he’s driving me out of my mind.” As though hearing that, Azure chittered and his eyes fluttered open slightly, before he relaxed back down and continued to nap. “Wish I could be asleep right now.”

”And yet, you agreed to come out flying with Toothless and I.” She rolled her eyes.

”Yeah, well, that’s because I—“ (A/N: I don't remember if I brought this up already, but they're never gonna say it in this book)

Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes darted in the direction of the Academy, lids narrowing before they shot open. 

“Uh, Hiccup? There’s a fire in the Academy.”

She pointed toward the structure, and when I followed her point, I saw thick, black plumes of smoke starting to rise through the chains overhead, as orange and yellow flames flickered vaguely over the rock.

”What the—? Oh, for Thor’s sake!”

I patted Toothless to get him to go faster, swooped down to get a bucket and fill it with water, and rushed to the Academy with Reign right behind. Toothless quickly entered the area and I doused the flames before getting a good look at who caused the problem. Unsurprisingly, a small, wiry boy stood nearby, a sheepish look in his wide eyes.

“Gustav,” I sighed. Evidently, the others had seen the fire, because they all landed right after Reign and I. "How many times have we told you you can't play in here?" I demanded, sliding off of Toothless.

"I'm not playing, I'm dragon training," Gustav insisted.

"Oh, poor kid." Reign turned her head to look up at Snotlout. "Ever since I let him into my inner circle, he wants to be just like his hero: me."

"Gross and annoying?" Astrid shot back, stepping closer on Stormfly.

"No. A Dragon Rider!" Gustav rested his hands on his hips and puffed up his chest, as though that would make him seem like Dragon Rider material. 

"Look around, kid. All of the Dragon Riding positions have been taken, so unless one of us kicks the bucket, you're out of luck."

"Well, that's a bit on an extreme measure," Reign interjected. "Let's just all regroup for training in a couple of hours."

Gustav bowed his head and patted his sheep, getting them both to leave. The others followed him out, likely going to get a few more hours of sleep before we had to get to work. I, on the other hand, didn't feel tired, and wanted to try and find something to fill the time with.

"Hey."

I turned my head to see Reign and Shriek standing in the entrance, smiling at us.

"You wanna go down to the cove?" 

I smiled too and got back onto Toothless, following the redhead and her Thunderdrum.

"I'm gonna kick the bucket!"

Annoyed with Snotlout's dramatics, I turned my attention away from the map we'd been studying and glared at him.

"Snotlout, do you mind? We're having a Dagur meeting."

"Dagur's here?" Reign peered around me to stare down Tuffnut.

"Do you think I'd be this calm if my brother were here?" she grunted. 

"In the last week, I've seen three of the Five Signposts of Valhalla."

"We know!" everyone exclaimed, staring at him angrily before attempting to get back to studying the map of Outcast Island again. Reign had marked it with suspicious points while she went out on patrol last week.

"You know? And you're just standing there, talking about stupid Dagur?" Snotlout turned away from us and began to speak with passion. "One of your bravest and most treasured warriors is about to leave this world forever!"

"Look on the bright side: at least you'll be in eternal paradise."

"So will we," Astrid quipped. 

"Joke all you want about me. But what about Hookfang?" The large Monstrous Nightmare curled up to nap, bringing his tail around to cover his eyes. "The though of him without me for the rest of his life... it's just..." Snotlout sniffled and turned away from the rest of us, walking with slouched posture.

"Are you done?" I sighed, trying to get us to focus again.

"No. Not even close. Though devastated, and still in pre-mourning, Gustav has volunteered to carry on the Snotlout legacy." From behind one of our other boards, Snotlout yanked Gustav into view.

"It's an honor."

"Please tell me he's not gonna fly around saying 'oy, oy, oy'," Reign groaned, crossing her arms.

"That's a good idea." Snotlout patted the little kid's helmet. "Gustav, make a note of that."

"Snotlout, the Five Signposts of Valhalla is nothing but an old wives' tale," I pointed out. 

"Then why have I seen the Flying Fish, the Weeping Rock, and the Signing Trees?" Snotlout held up four fingers, causing Gustav to jump up and put one of them back down, correcting him.

"You probably saw a Salmon spawning, wet rocks on the beach, and a gust of wind," Fishlegs pointed out. 

"Besides, the Five Signposts of Valhalla are only supposed to happen to great warriors," Reign added.

"Obviously. What's your point?"

"Even if it were true, _which it is not_ , you can't just pick someone to replace you," I told him in a stern tone.

"Well, you guys threw out my original plan!"

"To bury Hookfang alive beside you?" Astrid scoffed.

"He would gladly sacrifice himself for his beloved master. Trust me." The moment Snotlout touched him, Hookfang shot up and ran away, knocking the Viking into the air and sending him skidding right to my feet. I shook my head and tried to think of a way to approach this that would end the conversation.

"Okay. Let's just say, for argument's sake, you _have_ seen three of the Five Signposts. It doesn't mean anything. There are still two left." 

Just as I finished speaking, something brown and copper dropped down from above us, landing right in front of Snotlout's face. He shook his head before picking himself up, and the moment he looked at the object in front of him, he fully shot up and cowered near Reign and I.

"Oh, no! No, no! The fourth Signpost! The Bird of Death!" Exasperated, I leaned down to get a better look at the bird with flies buzzing around it.

"It's not the Bird of Death! It's just a dead chicken. Not the same thing, right, guys?" I made the mistake of turning to the twins.

"Oh, sure it is," they both answered. "Definitely. Bird of Death."

"You're on the clock, little man." He tapped Gustav's helmet as I got up onto Toothless. We'd wasted enough time, and I figured we'd gotten through enough for this mission to be successful. "We're starting your training immediately."

"Ugh, fine," I sighed, giving in. "The rest of us have to keep an eye on Outcast Island. While we're gone, try not to bring anyone else with your to eternal paradise." 

"I make no promises."

We all turned to head out of the Academy, going straight for Outcast Island. Reign had noticed something odd when she'd been out on patrol, hence why she'd marked suspicious points on the map. I don't think it helped her brother was now running the Outcasts, as well as her own people. I wasn't sure she'd ever be proud to be one of them, but when we dealt with the Skrill, I saw a little bit of pride poking through. But she never really talked things through with me when it came to her heritage. 

The sky began to turn grey as we got closer to the jagged rock of an island. We landed close enough that we could see what was going on, but not within the view of the Berserkers and Outcasts. I removed my spyglass from my satchel when we landed and focused on the area that seemed to be teeming with life amongst a dead landscape. There was some strange structure in the trees, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Ugh. I can't get a good look."

"Well, they're building _something_ and I'm guessing it's not good," she hissed. 

"All right. I say we blow it up." Reign shook her head at the twins.

"I say that's the best idea I've heard all week." The twins slammed their helmets against each others'

"Tuff, we've been over this: we don't shoot first and ask questions later."

"Of course. We never ask questions."

"We'll keep an eye on it. If it turns out to be something we have to worry about, then--"

"--we blow it up?" Tuff asked, leaning in closer to me as I put the spyglass back up to my eye."

"Oh... kay," I groaned, rolling my eyes. 

"I'm worried about getting any closer." Reign stepped Shriek a little closer to me. "But if we can't get a good idea of what that is, we could be in danger." I put the spyglass down and looked at her, jade eyes shining with concern.

"I know, but... I think we need to head back, re-group, and head back out later."

"Besides, we need to make sure Snotlout and Gustav haven't burned the whole village down," Astrid joked. 

When we got back, Snotlout and Gustav were still training in the Academy, and failing miserably. Most of us gathered around to watch the chaos unfold for hours.

"Eyes front, recruit!" Snotlout barked. Gustav still sat on top of Hookfang. Somehow, he hadn't died yet. "Now pay attention to everything I say." 

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"This should go well," Fishlegs muttered sarcastically.

"We're not too late, are we?" Tuffnut asked as the twins swung through the chains of the roof to take a seat next to the rest of us.

"Nope. Just about to get interesting."

"Oh, thank goodness. I hate missing violence." Snotlout paced around Gustav and Hookfang with a sort of purpose.

"A Monstrous Nightmare, in the hands of a capable rider, a la me, is a weapon of unmatched firepower. It must be treated with the utmost respe--" 

Before Snotlout could finish his sentence, Hookfang opened his mouth and shot out a large blast of fire, right at his rider. He then turned in our direction and tried to hit us, causing all of us to duck out of the way until we figured it safe.

"We'll work on that, recruit." He glared down at Hookfang. "Was that fun for you?" Hookfang responded by shooting more fire at Snotlout. 

"Are we ready to step in if someone almost dies?" Reign asked, leaning toward me. 

"To the best of our ability."

When we focused back on the training, Snotlout had gone over and grabbed a couple of fish, handing one to Gustav. 

"Okay, Gustav. Feeding time is bonding time for a dragon and its rider. This is how _we_ bond." Snotlout reeled his arm back and threw a fish at his dragon. "Hookfang, eat!" The food landed right in Hookfang's mouth, without him even having to move. He chewed up the middle, then spat it back out with the head still in tact. "You're up, kid! Bring the heat!" Snotlout started to walk away, confident Gustav wouldn't mess this up, for some reason.

"Hookfang! Eat!" As Gutav threw the fish, he fell onto his face, causing it to arc too far up and land right on Snotlout's helmet. Hookfang jumped up and followed the orders, clamping down on Snotlout and lifting him off the ground.

“Aah! We’ll work on that!” 

I sighed and glanced at Reign, whose expression shifted around a bit before resting on unamused. Snotlout had far more faith in Gustav than last week, all because he was convinced he was dying—which wasn’t actually happening. Shaking our heads, the rest of us swung ourselves back out and called for our dragons, caring for them in the Academy before calling it a night. Reign, Fishlegs, and I leaned over the map again, studying it and trying to get an idea of what we were getting ourselves into.

“I know it’s going to be hard on you all when I’m no longer here— especially you, Astrid.” She responded by rolling her eyes. “But I don’t want any tears. I want you to remember me with joy in your hearts." His voice began to break, as though he were actually getting choked up over his own death. "So, think of the good times we all had together." Immediately after he finished speaking, his hand moved to his rear, and he began to scratch. "It is by the power vested in me, that I hereby pass the Hookfang horns to Gustav. Go with Thor, little man. For he will watch over you. With lightning bolts, and a giant hammer."

I'd had just about enough of Snotlout's dramatics. Rolling my eyes, I whipped around and stared at him. 

"Okay, this has gone on long enough. First of all, _you are not dying!_ "

"Shh, shh, shh. Hiccup, it's okay. Denial is part of the grieving process."

"Second of all, no one vested you with any power."

"No one," Tuffnut affirmed. 

"And even if they did--"

"Which they didn't."

"--Gustav is in no way ready to be a member of this academy."

"No way."

"That's correct, Hiccup." I looked over at Fishlegs, thankful he seemed to want to help me with my argument. "There's _way_ more to being a Dragon Rider than feeding it and getting on its back."

"Neither of which he can do very well anyway," Reign pointed out. 

"None of us are perfect, except for me. Fishlegs is afraid of heights, the twins can't count past nine, Reign's related to a deranged maniac. Astrid has _obvious_ anger issues, and--" He turned to look at me, and I narrowed my eyes, daring him to say it. If he did, I'm sure Reign would just sweep his feet out from underneath him, or something like that, but he never did. "Well, enough said." I sighed and shook my head as he walked away from me.

"Oh, Reign." I felt a surge of anger pass through me as he pressed a hand to her cheek. I thought he'd switched his flirtations to Astrid. Did he seriously think he could win her over? "What might've been." Reign responded by grabbing his fingers and bending them back until they cracked. "I won't feel pain in Valhalla."

"Snotlout, for the last time, you are not going to Valhalla!"

"Runaway sheep!"

I swiveled my head around to see a flock of sheep barreling our way. They made a beeline for Snotlout, completely surrounding him. They seemed to be attracted to something, but I couldn't tell what. 

"The Shepherd's Curse. That's..."

"The fifth Signpost?" Astrid gasped.

"Oh, this cannot be happening," I groaned, resting my head in one of my hands and shaking it.

" _Aah!_ Avenge me!" Snotlout cried as he sunk into the circle of woolly creatures. "Have lamb for dinner!" After a few moments, he didn't get back up.

"Okay, this is ridiculous," Reign scoffed. She made her way over to the herd and managed to shoo most of them away. A single sheep lingered and licked Snotlout's face as his eyes opened. He looked around for a moment, before getting back onto his feet as I approached. 

"This is Valhalla?" he asked, his voice slightly dazed. "What a ripoff!"

"Nope, still Berk," I stated bluntly. "You fainted."

"More proof that my warrior's body is failing," he whined. "I don't have much time, Hiccup. You have to let Gustav take my place."

"Gustav is not taking your place. He's not ready."

"Well, train me anyway. Isn't that what you do here? I thought this was a dragon training academy."

"Well, Gustav, this academy was born out of timing, and necessity--"

"I thought Stoick gave it to us, and said it was just some dragon training academy." From afar, I heard Reign snicker.

"That's not helping. Gustav, we learned to be Dragon Riders the only way we knew how: by doing. It was dangerous, foolhardy--"

"--and awesome!" I shoved Ruffnut out of the way, and Reign came a little closer, kneeling down in front of the little Viking.

"Still not helping," I sighed.

"What Hiccup's trying to say, Gustav, is that you need experience," Reign attempted to explain. 

"The rider needs experience, the dragon needs experience, and the rider and the dragon together need experience.” Fishlegs knit his fingers together, symbolizing the bond.

“Experience, huh?” Reign cast me a cautionary look as Gustav turned away from us. Snotlout gained his balance again and strode toward his Monstrous Nightmare.

“Sorry, Hookfang. I guess this means we’re back to plan one. Ruff, Tuff, start digging!” Hookfang responded by padding over to his rider and blowing a frustrated puff of air in his face.

“Don’t you dare start digging in the middle of the Academy,” Reign warned as the twins ran off to get shovels. She watched their figures retreat over the hill, and once they were gone, sighed and turned to look at me, her expression unamused.

“You better fix this.” I gaped at her.

“What? Why is this _my_ responsibility?”

“The Academy technically belongs to you.” I opened my mouth to correct her, but she held a finger up, causing me to clamp my lips back together. “Your dad gave it to both of us, yes, but you were the first person to train a dragon, and this technically was your idea. If there’s a problem in the Academy, you’ve got to fix it.”

“But they’re more scared of you,” I whined.

“How, in any way, does that either solve this or even relate to the problem?”

I tried my best to stare her down and get her to cave, but Reign’s look was far more intimidating, and after a few moments, I threw my hands up.

“Fine, fine! I’ll try and deal with it.” Having won the argument, she beamed.

“Thank you.” As she passed by me, she reached out and squeezed my hand. “Seriously, he’s driving me out of my mind.”

I let out a long, exasperated sigh as she and Shriek went home for the night.

What would I do without her?

“Okay. We’re gonna need a diversion to get a closer look at whatever Dagur’s building,” I began, looking at the map again.

We’d finally decided we just needed to get in there and destroy whatever Dagur was working on, regardless on its nature. Something told me that if he were building it, things couldn’t be good for us.

“The flaming funeral pyre on my Flaming Funeral Pyre ship should do the trick.” From over my shoulder, I felt Reign glare at Snotlout. She was already a little peeved because, despite her warnings, the twins had begun to dig a hole right in the middle of the Academy, and now Snotlout was talking about his own pyre ship.

“Whoa, hold on, hold on.” Tuff stopped digging long enough to register what Snotlout had said. “I thought we were burying the two of you alive.” He scoffed and set the shovel down. “Fine. I guess I’ll start gathering wood.”

“Yeah, and I’ll start gathering pyres.”

Suddenly, the roar of a Monstrous Nightmare cut through the sky. Everyone looked at each other, wildly confused as a shadow passed overhead. Hookfang slept peacefully in the corner, protesting the fate he thought was coming, so… was there a runaway wild dragon?

Almost as soon as the question had been posed, a large, purple and green dragon came tumbling through the gates to the Academy, skidding on his own feet before stopping just short of crashing into all of us. A small figure went flying from its back, landing face first on the rock in front of our feet. Reign scoffed as Gustav shook his head and managed to somehow get up, his bones appearing completely in tact.

“I, uh-- I meant to do that,” he stuttered awkwardly, covered in dust. The Monstrous Nightmare he’d somehow flown in on paced in circles behind him, as though trying to get a bearing on his surroundings. I glanced to my left to see Reign staring daggers at me, and for once, I felt that was justified. This had officially gone too far.

“Is it me, or did a tiny little Snotlout and Hookfang just fly in?” The other Monstrous Nightmare responded by headbutting Ruff and Tuff, knocking them back into the pit they’d been digging. Toothless and Hookfang roared at the new dragon, appearing both threatened and confused at its appearance.

“Gustav, what are you doing here?” I demanded.

“Well, you said you didn’t have time to train me, so I found my own dragon, and trained myself.” I couldn’t believe it. This kid just didn’t know how to take a hint.

“Gustav, I’m not so sure we have the same definition of ‘trained’.”

“Look how he defies authority. Hm.” Snotlout seemed to be pleased with how Gustav was fairing, all of a sudden. “I’ve taught him well. Now I can go in peace.”

“Quit getting my hopes up,” Astrid snapped.

“Fellow Dragon Riders, I’d like you all to meet my dragon, Fanghook.” Reign burst into a short, sarcastic sort of laughter as she looked at the two dragons standing side by side. Hookfang took one glance as his competitor and roared loudly, as though trying to assert his dominance over his clumsy counterpart.

“Wait… Fanghook? Are you serious?” Snotlout’s voice jumped into another octave. “Don’t you have any respect for authority?”

“Gustav, we told you: there’s more to being a Dragon Rider than just riding a dragon.” Maybe saying it to him one more time would finally get things through to him. “You have to… form a bond-- a friendship.”

“We have it!” I glanced warily at Fanghook. “Test us, I’ll prove it!” He raced over to his dragon eagerly.

“Test him! Test him!” the twins chanted ad nauseum.

“You know, it might not be the worst idea,” Fishlegs whispered to me.

“No, I’m pretty sure it is the worst idea.”

“Think about it-- look at Snotlout. Maybe he needs to see how easily he can be replaced.”

“Enough said,” Reign chimed in. “I’m in.” I rolled my eyes at her, but I knew if I didn’t go through with it, we’d never deal with the problem, and she’d keep pushing me to do it. Besides, it was starting to sound less and less crazy as I took steps toward the pair.

“You know what, Gustav? You’re absolutely right.” He and Snotlout both looked at me like I was crazy.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. He is?”

“Yes, he is.” Toothless approached and fired a plasma blast at the ground, causing ash to cover the rock. With my foot, I carefully drew an ‘x’ to mark the spot where he should land. “Let’s see you do a lap around the arena, and land on this mark.

“All right, Fanghook. Fire it up!” With Gustav still dangling from his dragon’s neck, the pair trotted over to the entrance of the arena.

“Hmm. Quite the stirring battle cry.” As I re-joined the others, I caught a glimpse at Reign biting her cheek to keep from laughing.

“Eh, it’s all right.”

Gustav and Fanghook took off, crashing into the wall before the dragon shook it off, turned back around, and completely missed the mark. I felt an arm grab onto my waist and pull me down as everyone scattered, and Fanghook barreled straight into our board with the map on it. The dust cleared, and I opened my eyes to see Reign with an arm around me, her body partially shielding me from anything that could’ve come my way. We looked at each other for a moment, before awkwardly pushing apart and standing up.

“Dragon Rider!” Gustav cried as he emerged from the wreckage, once again unharmed.

“Wow.” I tried my best to keep my tone sincere, but a little bit of sarcasm managed to slip through. “That was pretty good.”

“ _Pretty good_? Are you kidding me?” Snotlout shouted, his arms wildly gesticulating in a way that indicated he was nearly boiling with rage.

“Is anyone else tired of listening to Snotlout’s ghost?”

“Hey! I’m not dead yet.”

“You’re dead to us.” Reign scoffed at the twins before walking into one of the dragon cages we now used for storage. She emerged with a few targets shaped like Outcasts we used for training, and I helped her set them up.

“Okay, bud. Show them how it’s done.” Toothless fired two quick blasts at the targets, knocking them both down without a problem. I gestured my hand down to the fallen wood, and Gustav rushed over to one of them, pushing it up for his dragon.

“Fire it up!” Instead of hitting the target, Fanghook’s blast just barely missed Ruffnut and Astrid before slamming against the wall, just to the left of what he was supposed to hit. I reached down and helped Gustav up, making sure nothing had happened to him.

“Weak sauce,” Snotlout insulted. “You didn’t even hit anything.”

“Well, that’s not quite true.” A distressed sheep ran by, a patch of its wool flaming from Fanghook’s inability to aim.

“Bravo,” Snotlout deadpanned. “You’re all set for the next sheep rebellion.”

“This time, _we’ll_ win.” Reign gawked at all of them.

“What do you mean ‘this time’? There was a first time?” Astrid rested a hand on her arm.

“You missed a lot before you were here.”

“Okay. If you guys are really serious about him replacing me, the--”

“We’re just following the last wishes of a legendary warrior.” Astrid could not sound more insincere if she tried.

“Besides, no need to replace you.” Tuffnut smacked his hand against Snotlout’s face. “You’re already gone.” He began to chuckle, when Snotlout reeled back and punched him square in the gut, knocking the boy back into his sister.

“Oh… I really thought that was gonna go right through him, you know? And I’d be able to tickle his back.”

“Let’s just see how he does on one of our obstacle courses,” Snotlout suggested, leaning down to sneer Gustav.

“If we’re gonna do that, we should get going now.” Reign hopped up onto Shriek, and the rest of us quickly followed. I led all of us out to the forest, where our easiest obstacle course was. Maybe Gustav could actually complete this one…

“Okay! On this course, you start at those big pines, and then you--”

“You blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” Snotlout interjected, mocking me. “If you think you’re good, kid, you’ll keep up with me. Fire it up!” Snotlout and Hookfang dove sharply into the trees, leaving Gustav and Fanghook in their dust.

“Hey! You stole my battle cry!” The uncoordinated pair followed, and tried their best to keep up. We all watched from above as Snotlout took the most convoluted path, clearing trying to get Gustav to fail. He actually managed to get through, with a little uneasiness, a decent part of the course, before Snotlout took a sharp turn, and Gustav slammed right into a branch.

“Oh, my gods,” Reign groaned. “These two…”

Fanghook brought an unconscious Gustav back to the Academy, and as we set him down, Reign reached for a bucket of cold water and threw it over him. Gustav’s eyes flew open and he shot up, sputtering and coughing.

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t throw water on him!” Ruff chastised. “Tiny Snotlout will just shrink more. Duh."

"How'd I do?" Gustav sputtered.

"Well, you lasted about two seconds." Snotlout began to aggressively scratch his butt, and I tried my best to hide how uncomfortable it was making me.

"But, hey, those two seconds? Awesome."

"I've gotta admit-- you're gonna make a great replacement for Snotlout, Gustav."

"Says who?" Snotlout paused, the reasoning behind our words finally starting to sink in for him. Once he fully processed it all, a hurt look crossed his face. "Hey, wait a second. You're trying to convince me I'm not dying! What kind of friends are you?"

"Look, Snotlout, maybe you _have_ seen the Five Signposts of Valhalla, and maybe you are going to die someday, and-- maybe you could stop scratching your butt while I'm talking to you?"

"Sorry. It's just all this Broadgrass in my shorts." I raised an eyebrow.

"And your shorts are full of Broadgrass, why?"

"More importantly, why aren't yours? The twins told me it prevents saddle chafing." He stepped aside to reveal the blonde siblings, who glanced at each other before looking away suspiciously, as though attempting to appear innocent. Things suddenly began to make a whole lot of sense.

"Oh, they did, did they? They also let the sheep in, and sheep love Broadgrass." They backed up with slightly fearful looks on their faces as I took purposeful, imposing steps forward. "And-And I'm guessing you're also the ones who dropped the bird of death."

"We have no idea what you're talking about," Ruffnut said sheepishly. 

Just then, a chicken dropped into Tuff's hands from above, then another into his sisters. All of us looked up to see Barf and Belch hovering in the air, almost appearing to smile as though they should be rewarded for a job well done before dropping two more birds.

"Oh, I get it! So this means..." He trailed off before hesitating. "I give up. What does this mean?"

"It means the twins were messing with you." Reign exaggerated each of her words.

"Right, right. And...?"

"You're not dying!" I shouted, my frustration reaching the breaking point. Relief started to trickle onto Snotlout's expression, followed by a smile.

"I'm alive? I'm alive! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Thor!" he cried, proceeding to kiss his own hands and arms. "Snotlout's too beautiful to die anyway."

"Ugh," Astrid scoffed. "And my lunch is in my throat."

"W-Wait. So this means I can't be in the Academy?" Gustav asked, his tone dejected. We turned and looked down at him, wide-eyed and slightly alarmed. "I just wanted to be a Dragon Rider so bad!" Snotlout leaned down, right in Gustav's face.

"Oh the one hand, I sympathize to your ruthless devotion to your goal."

"And on the other hand...?"

Snotlout didn't respond, instead choosing to grab Gustav by the back of his shirt and literally throw him out of the Academy. Fanghook scurried after his rider as one of the twins threw a chicken at Snotlout's face before the two of them raced off, causing him to chase after them.

"Hey! Get your butt over here!" As they ran through the gates, my father approached, his facial expression weighed down with a sort of seriousness.

"Son, we need to talk. Trader Johann just got back from Outcast Island." Reign scoffed at the mention of his name. It wasn't a little known fact that Reign didn't trust Johann. "He overheard Dagur saying he's getting ready to test fire some sort of new weapon."

"That must be what we saw him building," Astrid piped up, connecting the dots.

"I'll take a couple riders and we'll get a closer look tonight," I promised. 

"All right. But don't engage the enemy. This is a scouting mission, not a battle mission."

"Understood, chief." I turned to Reign as my dad began to walk away.

"Let Snotlout know we're leaving at sundown, and get everything you need. I know we're not planning on a fight, but--"

"With Dagur, you never know," she finished, reading my mind. 

I looked straight at Outcast Island through my spyglass, spotting an alarming amount of torches illuminating an even larger count of bodies. They were definitely up to something no good with that weapon, something that could endanger Berk and the dragons if we weren't careful.

"There are _a lot_ of Berserkers down there," I told the other two. "What's our diversion?"

"Allow me." Before I could protest, Reign and Shriek took off, heading straight for one of the guards. She hovered in the air for a bit, attempting to get his attention, before the two of them dashed off with the armored men following them on foot. I watched her fly further away with uneasiness, hoping they wouldn't hurt her as she taunted them.

"Reign's drawn them far enough away," I announced to Snotlout. "Let's get down there and see what Dagur's up to."

The two of us left the rock and flew toward the island, carefully gliding through the trees once we were close enough. Neither of us spotted anything at first around the area the Berserkers had been spread throughout, so I pushed Toothless to keep going.

Then, from the silence of night, a loud horn broke through, and as shouts followed, dozens of arrows arced up into the air.

"No!" I cried, beginning to panic. "It's a trap!"

Snotlout and I did our best to dodge as they fired their first rounds, when the roar of another Monstrous Nightmare drew everyone's attentions upward. It took me a second to try and figure out what was going on, but the moment I recognized the dragon, I was filled with a mixture of anger and dread.

"Gustav?" Snotlout sounded confused.

"Oh, great..." The pair somehow managed to avoid getting hit by the next wave of arrows before a large net was launched in their direction, knocking the pair down and sending them right to where the Berserkers were waiting.

"Okay. That solves the Gustav problem. Interested in a lamb dinner on the way home?"

"Are you kidd- Snotlout! We have to save him!" It took Snotlout and Hookfang a moment to decide to follow Toothless and I.

"Fine!" Another net launched into the air, nearly catching the other pair. Luckily, Toothless spotted it just in time and fired a plasma blast to disintegrate it. Two two of them shot out a stream of fire that sent the Berserker soldiers running.

"Fire it up!" I commanded.

"For the last time, that's _my_ battle cry!" Gustav protested.

"I know!" I found myself chuckling a little. "Now use it!" He caught on quickly.

"Fanghook, fire it up!" The Monstrous Nightmare ignited itself, completely burning away the ropes that confined them in a blaze of bright orange. "Let's get out of here!" 

Gustav and Fanghook took off after Toothless and I, somehow managing to get ahead. We had just started to leave the boundaries of the island, when another net wrapped itself around Toothless and I, sending us plummeting to the ground before either of us could react.

"I'm coming, Hiccup!" I heard Snotlout shout from the air.

I tried my best to at least sit up and try to get Toothless to fire, but we were encircled by Berserkers with weapons before I could do anything. Dagur's footsteps approached as he cackled menacingly, raising his sword in the air. The satisfied smirk of a victory consumed his face, sickening me at the thought of what he considered a win.

"Fire it up!"

Multiple blasts of fire from Hookfang and Fanghook distracted Dagur and sent the Berserkers fleeing, allowing me to jump up onto Toothless and get him to shake off the net. We took off after the other two Dragon Riders, making a slight detour toward the net launcher.

"Toothless, fire." 

All three dragons shot at the weapon, causing it to go up in bright, brilliant flames. Reign sped toward us and eyed me with her worried jade bowls. I flashed her a smile to assure her everything had gone just fine, and the four of us headed back towards home.

"Thanks, guys. Nice shooting."

"By me!" Snotlout interjected. "His eyes were closed." He gestured his thumb toward Gustav.

"Hey, it was scary!" 

The three of us laughed at the young Viking's comment as we rushed off into the darkened cloud cover, right on the path to Berk.

"So there was no secret weapon being test fired?" my father inquired the next morning.

"No. It was all a trap. Dagur must have intentionally leaked the information to Trader Johann."

"Ah, he's as crafty as he is crazy." My dad shook his head, then chose to move on. "Well, I'm glad you're all safe." With that, he turned to leave. I focused my attention on Gustav, who stood off to the side with a sullen expression.

"So, I guess I'm _not_ in the Dragon Academy, huh?" He rested a hand against one of the twins' carts of weapons. I glanced at Reign and Snotlout, and the three of us seemed to have the same idea, based on the former's nod.

"I tell you what, Gustav: how about we make you our very first Junior Apprentice Auxillary Reserve Backup Replacement Rider?"

"In training," Reign added.

"Fourth class." Leave it to Snotlout to further demote him. It took Gustav a moment, but he began to smile.

"Yes!" he cheered, pumping his fists in the air. 

"You realize, however, that means you have to study?"

"Got it."

"Clean out the dragon stalls," Fishlegs called from over in the corner as he did the job himself.

"Check!"

"And no more unauthorized dragon flying." I glanced up at Fanghook. "Neither of you are ready." The Monstrous Nightmare lowered his face down to Gustav, seeming to know what was coming.

"I understand."

Without saying much else, we all got onto our dragons, and Gustav led us back to the place where he'd found Fanghook in the first place. He dismounted and faced the large dragon, his shoulders hunched down in sadness.

"Go on, Fanghook! Be free!" Despite his gesticulations, the dragon refused to move, instead nuzzling the Viking affectionately. "Oh, go on! I said go already!" Gustav's tone was harsher this time, finally pushing Fanghook to go back into the woods. I approached Gustav and rested a hand on his shoulder, trying to make him feel a little better about all of this.

"I know that was hard, but it was the right thing to do."

"I know." The three of us got back onto our dragons, ready to head to the Academy and start training for the day.

"Hah. And you thought _he_ could replace me?" I rolled my eyes at Snotlout, regretting what I was about to say.

"Uh... no one can replace you."

"And don't you forget it." I turned my attention back to the boy who still faced away from us.

"You coming, Gustav?"

"No. I just want to be alone for a minute."

We all nodded to each other and took off. The silence only lingered for a moment, before Reign spoke up.

"What are the chances he'll actually stick to his word?" she joked. I looked at her with a smirk.

"As long as we're here, on Berk, we can keep an eye on him."

That seemed to be enough, and she flashed me a comfortable grin as we landed back at the Dragon Academy and prepared for today's lesson.


	33. (Reign)

"Woo-hoo!"

The twins ducked under the arc of a sea stack, upsetting a group of sleeping Terrible Terrors, while the rest of us stuck to our path. Usually, we could let their optimistic demeanor go, but Hiccup wasn't messing around today.

"Guys, can you please put a lid on it?" he shouted down to them. "Looking for the Screaming Death, low profile. Remember the meeting?"

"Yeah. But we had our own meeting." Unable to keep his attention on one thing for too long, Tuff darted his eyes down to a large group of sea stacks. "Ooh! Dangerous, pointy rocks."

"How did we get stuck with these two?" I asked, pulling up next to Hiccup.

"Well, it was them or Snotlout," he answered with a shurg.

"Hmm.. point taken. At least we have Fishlegs." I turned back to the boy on his Gronkle and waved with a smile. "If you'd left me with Snotlout, I would've killed you."

"Even if Astrid was with you?" I laughed bitterly.

" _Especially_ if Astrid were with me. The two would just be fighting the whole time driving me out of my mind."

"Well, their bickering is on a different path right now." I sighed happily and smiled at him

"And I thank you for that." I steered Shriek a little closer to the pair as we approached a rocky island. Its familiarity wasn't exactly a comfort, given the dragons that inhabited it.

"Oh, great," Fishlegs deadpanned. "Changewing Island." 

"Okay, guys, quick refresher. Island full of ill-tempered, highly territorial, and virtually invisible dragons." I noticed Toothless' nose begin to twitch as his eyes narrowed. He sensed something, but what? Were the Changewings already headed our way?

"So we should buzz 'em!" Tuff shouted.

"Really rile 'em up!"

"I'm pretty sure Hiccup was thinking more along the lines of keeping our distance." I shot the two of them a look.

"I like the sound of that," Fishlegs laughed. Toothless stopped sniffed and let out a distressed roar. "That I _don't_ like the sound of." I glanced at Hiccup, worried.

"Me neither. But still need to check it out." He and Toothless dove, leaving the rest of us to reluctantly follow.

"What happened to the 'keep our distance' policy?" 

We flew far enough over the island to see over the cover of trees, finding a large, green dragon rearing its head and thrashing back and forth as it roared. I jumped at the sight, not expecting to see that sort of dragon on land. 

"Whoa, that's a Scauldron."

"What's it doing on land?"

"Catching some rays?"

"Taking some alone time?" I rolled my eyes at the twins' inability to take this situation seriously. Despite how deadly the Scauldron could be, if it was in danger, we needed to help it.

"Lucky dragon..."

"Or maybe it's waiting for unsuspecting dragon riders to get too close, so it can blast them with its scalding hot water." Fishlegs began to panic, as usual. "Oh, just lovely."

The Scauldron roared again, and when I glanced down at it this time, I noticed something pinning its right wing onto the sand. It was trying to get away, but whatever was keeping it down was too heavy.

"Actually, I think he may be hurt. Let's check it out." This time, I took charge, just barely avoiding the jaws of the Scauldron as we landed. It glared right at me as we disembarked, trying to make itself appear more menacing.

"Whoa. He _is_ huge."

"He could eat me in, like, one bite." Of course Ruffnut sounded excited about that.

"Let's see!" Tuff pushed his sister right in front of the Scauldron, causing it to lift its head and roar menacingly at her. Tuffnut laughed at his job, only for Ruff to kick her foot back and knock her brother to the ground. "Or maybe not."

"Hiccup look!" Fishlegs pointed to the large pile of rocks pinning the Scauldron down. "There must have been an earthquake, and before he could get back to the water, his wing got pinned." The Scauldron struggled to get free, but to no avail.

"A Tidal Class dragon can't stay out of the water for very long. If its skin dries all the way out..." Hiccup couldn't finish his sentence, and the three of us glanced at each other with concern. 

"We have to help him." I began to step up, but Fishlegs placed a hand on my shoulder. 

"Perhaps I need to remind you, Scauldron and boiling, poisonous death that way." He pointed at the dragon. "Changewings and acid-spitting, invisible death that way."

I glanced at the forest behind us, hearing the vague roars of a Changewing. A tree rattled, causing Fishlegs to cower behind Meatlug. Hiccup stepped forward, placing a hand gently on my arm as the twins popped down from the leaves, cackling. I looked at the boy behind me and rolled my eyes.

"Come on out, Fishlegs! It's just the twins."

"How do you know we're not a Changewing disguised as us?" I scoffed at their stupidity. 

"Guys, come on. We need to find a way to free that Scauldron. We can't just leave him without trying."

"Uh, sure we can. We have dragons. We just fly away." Toothless nudged his rider, as though urging him to stay.

"You guys keep an eye out for Changewings. Toothless and I will see if we can help him."

"Yeah, feel free," Tuff encouraged.

"Knock yourself out."

"Yeah, dibs on Toothless if you don't make it back." I whipped around.

"Hey, I would get Toothless." I took a moment to realize what I had just said, and slowly turned to face Hiccup. "Okay, that was the wrong thing to say right now, but-- never mind." 

The Scauldron reared its head back and growled as Hiccup and Toothless tried to get closer. The Night Fury responded by roaring, as though trying to intimidate it.

"It's okay, bud." Hiccup placed a hand on Toothless' head. "I'll be fine." The Night Fury backed off slightly, leaving Hiccup to do what he does best. "Hey, pal. How'd you get yourself into this mess?" It responded by roaring and lowering its gaze, causing Hiccup to back up. I gasped slightly as I watched the scene unfold, taking a deep breath. "Oh... kay, that's not really important. What-What is important is us getting you out of here, so... what do you say?"

It leaned down, and for a moment, appeared as though it were going to comply. That was, until it began to fill up the pouch under its jaw.

"Hiccup!"

I rushed forward and grabbed onto him, yanking him behind a rock and tackling him to the ground.

"Okay. Not the answer I was looking for. Gang? Ideas?" Tuff stood up from his hiding spot, holding his fist up in determination.

"I have an idea." He paused for a moment. "Wouldn't it be great if bread came already sliced?" I rolled my eyes and rested my forehead in my hand. "Then you could enjoy it a little bit at a time."

"Think of the sandwiches you could make!"

"Guys, please, can we focus? Scauldron." The large dragon roared in pain, flapping his free wing in an attempt to free himself.

"I say we just blast those boulders off his wing," Tuffnut suggested, finally taking this situation seriously.

"That's too big a risk. We might hurt him more."

"Okay. What if we just blast those boulders off his wing?" Everyone looked at Ruff with confused and annoyed expressions. Hadn't she heard what Hiccup just said? She glanced at everyone before dropping her outstretched arms, shoulders drooping.

"We need to let the Scauldron know we're friends." I turned to look at Hiccup and Fishlegs, hoping they could help come up with some sort of idea.

"Maybe if we got him wet, it might calm him down." I turned to Hiccup for approval.

"Yeah, it's worth a try."

"Or, we could blast--" Before Tuffnut could finished, I slammed my hand over his mouth.

"Don't say it," I snapped. "Fishlegs, Ruff, Tuff, get on your dragons and get some water. Hiccup and I will wait here and let you guys know when to dump it."

The three took my orders and headed toward the sea. I trained my eyes to the Scauldron, watching it with a sort of sadness. Who knows how long the poor thing had been trapped here, desperately attempting to get free as a crushing weight caused his wing to hurt. Shriek must have sensed my distress because she nudged my side gently and purred. I smiled down at her and pet her head gently.

"We'll save it, Reign." I looked over at Hiccup, who was leaning against Toothless. 

"I hope so. I couldn't bear to be here if it..." I trailed off, my breath hitching in my throat.

"I know."

The beating of wings above our heads turned our attentions to a pair of dragons heading back in our directions, buckets under their arms. I wasn't quite sure where they'd gotten those, but I chose not to question it.

I waited until they got just close enough over the Scauldron, they cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted, "now!"

They were just about to dump the water on the dragon, when he turned his head around and roared at them. He swung his large wing out, knocking Barf and Belch into Meatlug, causing the buckets to be dropped and the riders and their dragons to start plummeting to the sand. Hiccup jumped up on Toothless and sped toward Tuff, rescuing him from falling onto rock. Ruffnut and Fishlegs landed safely on the sand, along with their dragons.

"Okay, so, the idea was to get the dragon wet," Hiccup teased as he picked up one of the buckets.

"On the bright side, being wet has made _me_ feel calmer."

"Just made me feel wetter." I rolled my eyes at Tuff. 

"What next?" Fishlegs asked as he pushed himself up from the ground.

"I'm open to suggestions."

"Well--"

"That don't involve blasting boulders off of wings!" Tuffnut's expression faded.

"Never mind." Hiccup sighed and turned to the blonde boy next to him. 

"Fishlegs?"

"If it won't let us help it, what _can_ we do?" I snapped my head over to Fishlegs, unintentionally staring him down.

"There has to be something."

The Scauldron roared again, this time louder as he haphazardly flapped his wing. He thrashed his head back and forth in distress, as though he were trying to warn us of something. I felt Fishlegs grab onto my shoulder and cower behind me as he sprayed the little bit of water in his mouth back and forth, before he collapsed into the sand, wearing himself into a vegetative state.

"Reign, Hiccup, you know how I feel about dragons. But a wild Scauldron is, well... it's about as wild as they get. Maybe... maybe this is just one of those times when nature just has to take its course." I sucked in a shallow breath as I felt a slender hand gently touch my own.

"You mean like when I drank that sour yak milk and gave Ruffnut the Smokey Viking?"

"He _means_ if the Scauldron won't let us help it, then... well, there's nothing more we can do without endangering ourselves or our dragons." I bit my lip and pulled away from the others as a crushing pain weighed down on my chest. Reluctantly, I climbed up onto Shriek and watched as Ruff hesitated before joining her brother on their Zippleback.

Hiccup stuttered for a moment, finally at a loss for words, before muttering a defeated, "sorry." 

He tried to make Toothless fly back to Berk, but the dragon only got a few feet off the ground before forcing himself to land back on Changewing Island. In fact, all our dragons refused to stray too far from the helpless Scauldron.

"Whoa, whoa. What-What is it, bud?"

"What's wrong, girl? What is it?"

"I don't think the dragons want us to leave, either," Fishlegs inferred.

"Just show them who the boss is! Watch and learn!" The twins attempted to get Barf and Belch to take off, but the dragon just crossed its necks before throwing the siblings from their saddles. While Tuff landed safely behind a set of rocks, Ruffnut continued to skid until she was a mere few feet in front of the Scauldron. He stared her down and roared, reeling his head back slightly.

"Ruffnut, do not move," Hiccup ordered, keeping his voice low.

"For the first time in my life, Hiccup, you have my full attention." The moment Ruff finished speaking, the Scauldron slithered his head closer. nuzzling right up to her face. Barf and Belch lept up and roared at the dragon they thought was attacking their rider and scurried forward, only to be stopped by the Scauldron's blast. Hiccup and Toothless jumped in front of the Zippleback, and he held his hand out to try and calm the dragon.

"Whoa, guys! She's all right." The Scauldron resumed inspecting the girl in front of him.

"What's it doing?" Fishlegs hissed.

"I think it's... smelling her?"

"Haha! Hey, Ruffnut! Looks like you finally got a date that's as ugly as you," her brother taunted.

"May-Maybe it's finally gonna let us help." The rest of us tried to approach, but the Scauldron spotted us out of its peripheral vision, and it leered at the four of us as it growled, threatening to spit water at us.

"Or not!" The Scauldron looked as though it were about to shoot, but its eyes suddenly relaxed, and it focused back on Ruffnut.

"What is it about her hair that the dragon likes so much?" I asked, genuinely confused and curious.

"Well, m-maybe it's the color of its mother's hair?" No one responded to Fishlegs, waiting for him to realize what he had just said. It took him a few seconds before he sighed to himself. "That... doesn't make any sense... does it? Sorry, I'm still terrified from what just almost happened."

"Why would anyone like her smelly old hair? It's full of fish oil." That seemed to give Hiccup an answer.

"Ruffnut, do you put fish oil in your hair?" he shouted to her.

"Duh! How else do you think I get this greasy, unwashed look?"

"Okay, I'm not gonna pretend to understand that."

"No, no, it makes sense." I chose not to point out the fact Hiccup was likely referring to Ruffnut's chosen hairstyle. "Scauldrons are ocean-dwelling dragons. Maybe the smell of fish reminds him of home."

"Hey, if the smell of Ruffnut's hair keeps that dragon calm, gang... that's our way in." I glanced over at Hiccup, and somehow figured out what he was thinking just by reading his facial expression.

"Hiccup--"

"Ruffnut, I want you to train the Scauldron!" he called over to the Viking. She paused for a moment, before sort of turning in our direction.

"You want me to _what_?"

"Train the Scauldron." Hiccup said that as though that would be easy. I think he sometimes forgot that not everyone was as skilled with dragons as he was.

"Uh, I can't do that!"

"Sure you can! You trained Barf."

"That's half a dragon." She had a point. I'd watched her and her brother train their dragon, and she really only focused on the head designated as her own.

"And let's be honest: I did most of the work." I rolled my eyes and turned to the female Viking.

"What about all the classes at the Academy?" Part of me was afraid of the answer.

"Wait... we have classes?" Not quite the response I expected, but it was still just as alarming. 

"Yeah, you-you know when Hiccup is standing in front and talking about dragons?"

"You were talking to us?" Hiccup and I sighed, exasperated.

"Uh, yeah, okay. Never mind. Uh... look, don't worry, Ruffnut! I will talk you through training the Scauldron."

"Hiccup, we need to hurry. The Scauldron is really looking dry." I glanced at the dragon's stomach to see its brilliant teal color beginning to fade to an ashy grey. Hiccup narrowed his eyes as he realized the window was closing.

"Okay. Step one: establish a bond."

"With who?" I sighed. This was going to be near impossible.

"'With wh--' the dragon!"

"Right... How, exactly?" Fishlegs slapped his palm against his forehead.

"You guys don't _ever_ pay attention, do you?"

"Nope." Tuff's answer was blunt and to the point.

"R-Ruffnut, try this: give the dragon a name." She turned back to the threatening Scauldron.

"Uh, okay? How about... 'Please Don't Kill Me'?"

"Yeah, or maybe something a little more positive."

"I've got one: 'Scalding, Painful Death: the Dragon'."

"How is _that_ more positive?"

"How is it not?" I rolled my eyes at the male twin.

"Can I just go with 'Scauldy'?"

"Perfect!" Ruff smiled and turned back to the dragon.

"Hey there, Scaudly," she greeted awkwardly. "So... Scauldy, what brings you to Changewing Island? The tide, or... the tide?" I sighed and crossed my arms. "I got nothing! Sorry, guys!" Scauldy leaned a little closer to Ruffnut, curious.

"Did that just sort of work?" Fishlegs asked, slightly astonished. 

"Yeah. Now here comes the moment of truth. Okay, talk to him again, but this time, reach out your hand, like this."

Hiccup closed his eyes and reached his hand out beside him, turning his head away. Toothless stood up, intrigued, and I watched as Fishlegs trotted over to Hiccup and rested his forehead against Hiccup's hand, closing his eyes as well. Hiccup seemed to think Toothless had touched his hand, so when he opened his eyes and saw Fishlegs, he jumped. 

"Aah! Fishlegs!"

"Sorry! I'm just very nervous for Ruffnut." Toothless leered over the Viking's shoulder. "I'll go keep an eye out for Changewings."

"Go on, Ruffnut," Hiccup encouraged. 

The looked up at Scauldy with wary eyes, looking as though she doubted herself at first. Carefully, she began to close her eyes and stick her hand out.

"You can do it, sis!" Tuffnut shouted, startling Ruff. "But in case you can't, at least your death will be quick, mostly painless, and _really_ cool to watch."

Ruffnut sighed, and went back to trying to train Scauldy. She closed her eyes and extended her hand out for the large dragon.

"Okay, Scauldy. I'm guessing you're as freaked out as I am now. But if you don't kill me, I would really appreciate it, and--" 

Her eyes flew open as Scauldy pressed his grey nose against her hand, his eyes widening affectionately. Fishlegs popped back out from behind Meatlug as all of us watched in wonder.

"Whoa... Hi. Hey, Scauldy."

"Come on, guys. Let's go." As all of us tried to approach, Scauldy looked up and growled. 

"I know. I know, Scauldy. Hiccup's kind of bossy, but look, he's trying to help you." I snickered and glanced at the boy on my left. "Trust me."

"Shouldn't one of us stay back as a lookout for Changewings?" Fishlegs asked, already backing away. 

"Changewings or not, we need to help this dragon. And it's going to take all of us to get those rocks off."

"Besides, if there were Changewings anywhere near us, I would sense it." I scoffed at Tuffnut.

"You don't have a sixth sense for Changewings, Tuff. Now come on, we've got a chance to free Scauldy." Toothless suddenly roared, sounding distressed.

"What is it, bud?"

Hiccup turned around just as a bright red Changewing opened its mouth to spray acid at him. Thinking fast, I lunged forward and pulled him out of the way of the shot. Toothless jumped out and fired at the aggressive dragon. Two of them closed in on Meatlug and Fishlegs, and the Gronkle blasted them out of the way. All of us stood our ground in front of Scauldy as the Changewings closed in, their leering eyes set on the injured dragon.

"Oh, man. I must be dreaming because this is _way_ cooler than what was happening minutes ago."

As I glared at Tuffnut, a magnesium blast shot down from the sky, causing two of the Changewings to scatter.

" _Ha_! One Snotlout surprise coming through!" the Viking on the Monstrous Nightmare shouted as he and Astrid came to save us. 

The Changewings took to the air and began to circle around Scauldy's head, firing acid at Ruffnut to get her to move. Astrid and Snotlout continued their assault on the Changewings until they finally turned and flew away.

"Calm down, Scauldy," Ruff cooed as the Scauldron roared and thrashed his head back and forth, flapping his one free wing. "It's okay! It's okay. Calm down."

"What have I told you guys about playing with wild Changewings?" Astrid stared our group down as she and Stromfly landed.

"Uh, we're trying to keep them away from Scauldy," I shouted.

"Scauldy?"

"Well, it was that or 'Scaulding, Painful Death: the Dragon'."

"Mine!" Tuff cheered, as though that were something to be proud of.

"Look, those Changewings are gonna be back with friends. Lots of them, so..."

"So let's move these boulders. Ruff, you need to keep Scauldy focused on you, not us."

"Okay." Her confidence suddenly fell away when she realized what Hiccup was asking her to do. "Wait, how do I do that?"

"Do your stupid Hiccup impression!" her brother suggested as the rest of us got up on our dragons and began to circle Scauldy.

"Oh, yeah. Good idea! Hello, nice dragon. You can be my friend. My leg fell off. All of the dragons are my friends." I snickered as I glanced at Hiccup, waiting for his reaction.

"I don't sound like that! And, p.s., my leg didn't _fall_ off. Try something else!"

"Like what?"

"Try one of those songs mom used to sing to you when you were little and were afraid of the dark."

"You were afraid of the dark, not me! I was afraid of you!"

"Just sing!" As Ruff grabbed onto the pouch under Scauldy's jaw, he tried to throw his head back and forth.

" _Hush little Viking, don't you cry, or the Berserker will stab you in the eye_." I snapped my head down toward the pair, feeling slightly offended.

"Hey!"

" _Don't let the enemy see you afraid, or he's gonna gut you with a rusty blade._ " Oddly enough, the chilling lyrics and Ruffnut's sandpaper voice seemed to calm Scauldy down, allowing us to swoop down and start picking up the rocks. _"If that dragon hears your moans, he's gonna mash up all your bones."_ Scauldy's eyes widened in anger and he began to growl. "Oh... sorry. _I promise Scauldy, if you don't kill me, my friends and I will get you out to sea."_

Stormfly disposed of the last rock, finally freeing Scauldy and allowing him to go back into the water. He looked at his formerly trapped wing and fluttered it up and down a couple times, before leaning down and roaring at Ruff and knocking her to the ground. He tried to fly back into the water, but his wing was too damaged to be able to carry him, and he was too weak to stand.

"Oh, no!"

"Oh, I see it, too." Hiccup and I dove down and crouched next to the fractured, obscurely bent wing.

"The wing is broken," I sighed, trying not to touch it. "Scauldy can't swim, or fly."

"Wait, we did all this for nothing?"

"It looks like a simple break. We might be able to fix it."

"With what? A giant dragon splint?" Snotlout began to laugh at his own suggestion, but Hiccup, Fishlegs, and I looked at each other with intrigue. That idea could actually work. 

"Exactly." Snotlout's laughter immediately ceased as he looked at us. 

"I knew that, that's why I said it-- 'cause it was my idea." Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes at him.

"Any time, now!" Ruff called, crushed beneath Scauldy.

"All right, we're gonna need wood, the biggest pieces you can find." 

"And we'll need something to secure the splint."

"We can use the rope from my shield, but we'll need more. Bring any vines you can find." I jumped back onto Shriek and started collecting any fallen branches I could find littered through the forest. When we all met back up, we'd collected enough wood to make a splint, and Hiccup and Tuffnut had pulled together enough ropes and vines to put this thing together. "Good job, everyone." Tuff brought Hiccup's shield back to him.

"Here you go."

"Sorry about the catapult thing."

"Catapult thing?"

"Eh, it's okay. It's sort of a hair trigger. I tightened it up for you, so--" He pressed the trigger for the catapult, which shot out and hit him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Just... take it." He handed the shield back to Hiccup.

"Okay, someone needs to be on the lookout for Changewings while the rest of us work on the splint."

"Astrid and I will go!" Snotlout raised his hand before slinging his other arm around her and pulling her right against him, much to her disgust. Hiccup and I got to work on the splint. "Alone. By ourselves."

"Knock yourself out," Hiccup shrugged as I helped him tighten one of the vines.

"What? Just saying what you were thinking." Astrid responded by grabbing Snotlout's arm and throwing him to the ground.

Hiccup and I dragged a log closer to Scauldy, but neither of us could get it all the way over, so Toothless nudged it the rest of the way with his nose.

"That's it, bud. Good job." The pieces of wood were finally set into place.

"Hiccup, I don't know if we have enough vines and rope."

"Well, this'll have to be enough." He tightened the knot on the vines he was working on before trying to connect that branch to another one. The splint was nearly finished, meaning we'd be able to get Scauldy back into the water quickly and save him.

_"Hurry up, guys, and fix that wing because I've run out of things to sing._ Hello?"

"I think it's gonna work!"

"Hiccup!" He and I turned around to see Snotlout and Hookfang barreling right for us. 

"Well, this can't be good news." The pair bounded right for us, and a desperate-looking Snotlout stopped right in front of him.

"I don't understand women," he whined. 

"Changewings behind us," Astrid informed the rest of us as she and Stormfly landed. "About five minutes out."

"How many?"

"Enough that they aren't bothering camouflaging themselves." My eyes went wide, and the two of us turned to the others working away on the splint. 

"Uh, Fishlegs?" He tied the final knot in the vines.

"I got it!" The moment he let his hands go from the vines, it snapped and the knot came undone again. "It broke!"

"Oh, no!" Fishlegs tried to pull them back together, but the vine was too short now, and he couldn't connect them.

"It won't reach! We need more rope!" The group of Changewings finally caught up with us, heading straight for Scauldy. "Oh, we're out of time!" Fishlegs screamed as he hopped up onto Meatlug. "They're coming, they're coming!"

"Ruffnut, we... have to go," Hiccup sighed, admitting defeat.

"No! Can't we all lift Scauldy?"

"Even if we could, it wouldn't do any good. The dragon can't swim." Ruff turned to look at the greying dragon, nuzzling her with wide eyes.

"Ruffnut..." She took another look at Scauldy, and something seemed to change in her.

"No! I am _not_ leaving him here."

"Look, sis..." I could tell Tuffnut was starting to get concerned for his sister's safety. 

Scauldy's eyes suddenly shot open and his pupils narrowed as the Changewings began to close in.

"Whatever we're going to do, we have to do it now." Scauldy leaned back slightly before nudging Ruff away, encouraging her to go. She looked back and forth between the approaching dragons and the injured one, tugging on her braids.

"Wait! I have an idea." She suddenly yanked out her knife and began sawing away the thick braids. My eye widened in shock as I watched her cut off her own hair and tie it to the branches where the vines had broken. The splint was finished, and quickly as we could, we moved Scauldy back into the water and flew over him as he swam away. By the time the Changewings got there, Scauldy would be long gone.

"Sorry about sticking you with Snotlout today," I called down to Astrid as we headed back home. 

"It wasn't that bad. Watch this." She turned toward Snotlout, who was flying oddly far away from her. "Hey, sweetie pie? Honey bunch? Snotty-kins?"

"Would you stop it already?" Snotlout sounded defeated. "You are grossing me out."

"Yeah, you're kinda grossing me out, too," I laughed before following Hiccup down toward the twins.

"Ruff, you did good down there."

"You really did. I mean, that was awesome."

"You know what would've been more awesome." Ruff reached out and slapped her brother.

"Yeah! If it would've eaten me?"

"I love it when you read my mind, sis." They butted their helmets together.

"You guys ready to head home?" Hiccup asked the pair.

"Hang on a minute." She steered Barf and Belch closer to the water and reached down with her hand. After a few seconds, Scauldy reached his head up and nuzzled into her hand, wishing her a last goodbye. "I'm gonna miss you, Scauldy. Look, anytime you want to visit, I'll just kick out Tuffnut to make room. No problem, okay?" He roared up at her before ducking back down into the ocean. "Bye."

"Has anyone ever told you you look like a boy?"

"Has anyone ever told _you_?"

I would never understand those two...


	34. (Hiccup)

I briefly watched as Reign shivered in the corner, pulling the blanket closer against her sinewy frame as Azure crawled back and forth on her shoulders, as though that would keep her warm. The dragons were fast asleep around the wall of the old dragon pen, while the others sat attentive, watching me as I attempted to teach for the day. I'd told Reign she shouldn't come, but of course, she didn't listen. 

"So as you can see by the chart, proper wind control can be achieved--" Just as I stepped away from the slate, a ball of fire shot out and struck it. I rolled my eyes and groaned, beginning to grow frustrated with the others and their antics. "Okay... okay, who shot that fire ball?" 

Snotlout and Hookfang looked away suspiciously, the former whistling as he refused to meet my eyes.

"Why are you looking at me?" Snotlout challenged.

"Come on, guys. I don't want to be here any more than you do," I sighed. "Can we just get back to training, please?"

"I say we play twenty questions instead. Anyone? Anyone?" Snotlout glanced at the blonde girl huddled against her Nadder. "Astrid, why do you love me so much?"

Astrid placed her hand over her mouth as she gagged at the thought of loving Snotlout.

"Me, me, me!" Tuff shouted, waving his arm around wildly. "Okay, I'll go first. Question number one--" Something, likely Hookfang, suddenly pulled Tuffnut to the ground, but that didn't discourage. "How do you play twenty questions?"

"Uh... can we try to stay focused, please? Even for a second?"

"We've been stuck inside for a week straight because of this crazy weather," Reign whined, pulling the blanket closer against her frame. "We're all starting to go a little nuts."

She flashed her eyes over to Fishlegs, who was holding one of Meatlug's feet, staring affectionately at her claws. The actual dragon herself laid fast asleep, completely unaware of what her rider was doing.

"Ooh, Mr. Pinky," he cooed. "Don't tell the others, but _you_ are my favorite."

Exhausted, I let out a sigh and turned my attention to the twins, who were now laughing at their dragon as it chased its tail.

"Barf and Belch just found out they have tails!" Ruff cried, as though it were some big revelation to them, too. "It looks like they really hate that idea..."

"Yeah... I got the same way when I found out _I_ had a tail." Tuff looked back and began to turn in circles, chasing a tail that didn't really exist. "You can't hide from me forever, invisible tail. I'll get you!" Ruff laughed at her brother as she walked away from him, as though she were any better off.

"I may have told Tuff he has a tail, too," she whispered to me.

The door suddenly flew open, hitting all of us with a large gust of cold air. I flinched and held up my arms in an attempt to shield my face from the snowflakes that came shooting in. My father pushed against the door to get it shut against the elements.

"Odin's ghost, it's cold out there!" he exclaimed. "Worst freeze in the history of Berk." He reached up his hand and touched his facial hair. "My beard is frozen solid!"

"So, Father, what brings you to the Academy?" I asked, trying to get him back on track.

"Trader Johann hasn't reported to port. If he's trapped out in this storm, he won't last overnight. Oh, I wish I could--"

"Oh, yes, I can go!" I interjected, bouncing with anticipation. As much as I loved these guys, they were driving me out of my mind. "Uh, you know Toothless can help find Johann's ship in the darkness. He's the perfect dragon for the job." My dad looked at the two of us with a hesitant expression.

"Uh... I don't know--"

"Please, Dad. If you _ever_ cared for me at all, the way a father cares for a son, then you will let me leave."

I turned my head to the chaos, watching as dragons and riders fought, while Reign pushed herself deeper into the corner, trying her best to not get killed as she warmed herself. As much as I'd love to take her with me, she'd freeze to death out there, and I couldn't risk that.

"Oh... bolt the door behind you when you leave," my father muttered, having seen enough. "Please."

For the first time this week, I felt a rush of joy.

"Yes!" I cried as soon as my dad left.

Quickly, Toothless and I ducked out before any of the others could notice and took off, trying to search for Trader Johann's ship. Nothing too bad could have happened in this amount of time, the water probably just froze over and was preventing him from sailing any closer to Berk. I shivered against the winds as Toothless and I pushed on, despite having yet to actually spot anything. The sun was now starting to set, which meant the temperature would drop even more.

"It's pretty dark out here, bud. Do your thing." Toothless let out that strange roar that somehow let him see in the dark. I watched and waited for something to appear, when I noticed just how much ice floated on top of the water. "Wow, look at that." Toothless flew closer to the frigid surface. "I've never seen the ocean frozen solid before. No wonder Trader Johann can't get to port. No one could get through this."

Toothless growled as a cloud of smoke passed beneath us, squeaking and flashes of green visible from inside. We came to a halt and watched it move across the water.

"Whoa! I don't know what that was, bud, but I'm glad we're up here and it's down there." Toothless let out that roar again, clearing the fog. Almost immediately, he turned and stared intently off into the distance. "Found something? Let's take a better look."

Toothless followed the path he'd seemingly created for himself as night fell, making it harder for me to see. Thankfully, Toothless never lost sight for a second, and pursued until I spotted a stranded ship. The design on the sails and its appearance overall were familiar.

"There he is!"

Toothless dove closer, and I spotted Trader Johann waving both his arms in the air, distressed.

"Master Hiccup!" he cried, relieved. "You're a welcome sight for these weary eyes."

Toothless and I landed on the deck and allowed Trader Johann to climb up before beginning to head back to Berk. As expected, Johann began to babble on the moment we took to the air. 

"In all my years on the briny deep, I have never witnessed a freeze quite like this one. Ice as thick as Thor's hammer! I even considered abandoning my ship and traveling to Berk on foot."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that now, Johann," I assured him. "Just enjoy the ride."

"Excellent! We shall pass the time with stories of my grand adventures." A sense of regret overtook me as I realized what I'd gotten myself into. "They're sure to warm your heart and stoke the fires of your imagination. Did I ever tell you about the time I found myself up against the Man Eating Metal Masons of Manorie Majorie? Oh, it was spring, the smell of fresh jasmine was in the air..."

"...but it was not a yak! It was his daughter!" Johann laughed at his own punchline. "I could not believe! She looked like a yak, and her name was Yakmine. And that, Master Hiccup, is how the king of Enudin made me an honorary member of his royal court."

I shook my head. We'd been flying all night, and somehow, Johann hadn't shut up the entire time. The fog cleared to reveal Berk, standing firm as it had when I left. The snow had mostly melted away, but the angry cold persisted.

"Oh, look! We're here. Thank Odin," I muttered. Toothless shook his head and growled, clearly as relieved as I was.

Things were oddly silent when we landed. Clouds had begun to roll in, giving the abandoned homes an even more eerie feel. Toothless got low to the ground and growled, sensing something was off. The wind blew and slammed open doors on their hinges, further setting in the sense of abandonment.

"Hmm... not the welcome I'm accustomed to, but nonetheless." I couldn't tell whether Johann was attempting to make a joke or not.

"Where is everyone?"

"This reminds me of the time I landed on the island of the Red--"

I raised a finger to get Johann to be quiet. Thankfully, he took to the gesture and halted mid-sentence. Even the torches had been snuffed out. What _happened_ here?

"Hello?" I waited a few moments for some sort of answer, but heard nothing. "Anyone?" Toothless padded over to an abandoned cart of produce and sniffed it a few times, as though trying to pick up a scent. "Dad?"

I pushed open the door to my hut, but nothing moved, save for the fire that continued to crackle in the hearth. My eyes flickered down, and I picked up a cup that had fallen over, spilling out liquid into a puddle on the ground. Toothless gurgled curiously, and we continued through the village, attempting to find any signs of life. But anywhere we searched... nothing. In the Academy, I opened up the pen I'd left the others in, but all that happened was a group of Terrible Terrors flew out at me. 

"What in the name of Thor is going on?" Everything had been left undisturbed. Shaking my head, I climbed back up onto Toothless and flew back to Johann in the main part of the village. "Johann, anything?"

"The whole town, Master Hiccup. It's empty."

"I know. It's very weird."

"I don't like this one bit. There was one time I was on a trade run with a man who claimed..." 

From behind me, I heard a crashing noise-- the first sign of life in the last thirty minutes. A flash of color moved in a slightly open doorway. Quickly, I hopped up on Toothless, staring down where I'd seen something moving.

"Let's go, Toothless! Johann, stay here."

I threw open the door to find barrels overturned and broken, spilling out their contents out onto the scratched, wooden floor. I could feel some sort of presence looming nearby, but I couldn't quite tell from where. Cautiously, I stepped further inside and looked around, trying to find some sort of sign as to what happened here. I turned my head just as a shadow loomed over me, and something large fell on my head, knocking me to the ground. 

I opened my eyes with a throbbing pain on the side of my head, laying on the floor. Toothless hovered over me, sniffing me to make sure I was still alive. My heart suddenly stopped for a second and I let out a scream as something jumped out in front of me. Thankfully, it was just Fishlegs, looking panicked.

"Whoa! Don't _ever_ do that again," I scolded.

"Hiccup! Oh, thank Thor." Fishlegs reached out and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so sorry I fell on you." 

"Oh... kay, Fishlegs," I gasped out, trying to catch my breath. He let go of me too quickly, causing me to lose my balance and fall back onto the ground.

"Fast, really fast, too fast," he began to babble. "Speedy. Oh, and their sting! Paralyzing sting!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I shook my head as I got back up. "Hold on, Fishlegs. What are you talking about?"

He stepped closer, looking around cautiously for whatever he was talking about.

"Speed Stingers."

I hesitated, not really understanding what he was talking about. How was it possible they got to Berk? They weren't native to this area, too far away to be able to get here quickly.

"Speed... Stingers? Here?"

"It all started just after night fall," Fishlegs began to explain. "They don't fly, but they're fast. Faster than any dragon I've ever seen. They hide in the shadows; scavengers looking for anything they could find. One drop of their venom can paralyze a human or dragon in an instant. They move in a pack following a leader." I could start to piece together what happened while I'd been gone. "He directed them like a war chief. By the time Stoick ordered everyone to the cove, the entire village had been overrun."

My panic began to rise as I thought of my friends, my father, Reign, trapped in this. If something bad happened to her-- to all of them-- while I was gone... Not to mention we were out in the open, vulnerable to them.

"Well, where are the Speed Stingers now?" Fishlegs began to hyperventilate.

"I don't know. The sun came up and they disappeared. But they'll be back; they come out at night."

"I-I-I-I don't understand," I stuttered, trying to pull my thoughts together. "Why did you come back here, Fishlegs? Why not just stay with everyone at the cove?"

Fishlegs looked back at me with a sad expression, then began to walk out of his hut. I figured it better to follow him and maybe get some answers than stay here. He only took a couple steps outside before turning around, averting his gaze upward and inviting me to follow. Meatlug stood balanced on his roof, looking as though she were about to attack before struck. There was something chilling about her expression, as though she were completely unaware.

"Just look at her up there-- so majestic."

"How did I miss that?" I thought aloud.

"She tried to draw them away so I could escape. I just couldn't leave her." Trader Johann approached us, looking up at the frozen Meatlug.

"How did we miss that?" Fishlegs and I both looked back at him.

"If I'm going to the cove, I have to get her down."

I glanced at Fishlegs, unamused, but decided to humor him. Johann followed him and began to push, apparently finding her to be staggeringly heavy.

"So, she eats rocks, you say?" Johann managed to ask. "That makes sense." A bit of flatulence slipped out, right by Johann's head, causing him to push back. "Ooh, oh dear. That has quite... an effect." Johann collapsed and fell back onto the ground, hopefully not breaking anything in the process.

"Movement! This is very good. It means the paralysis is only temporary. Hiccup, come up and help!" 

With a sign, Toothless and I made our way up onto the roof and began to help.

"Uh, where's Johann?" I looked around below me, but couldn't find where he'd fallen.

"I'm okay, boys!" I looked down to see a hand protrude out from a wheelbarrow. "I actually landed on me fluffy bits."

"Fishlegs, what's the deal with this paralysis?" I asked, messing with one of Meatlug's eyelids. It moved, surprisingly enough. "How long does it last?"

"I don't know, Hiccup. There's nothing about it in the Book of Dragons or Bork's Papers." Fishlegs looked out toward the water. 

"How do you think the Speed Stingers got here? They can't fly." I started to put the pieces together in my mind.

"If I had to guess, I would say it was because the ocean was frozen solid, creating an ice bridge from their island to ours." I took another look and Meatlug, and, unfortunately, realized she wasn't a priority at the moment. "We need to get to the cove, right away." 

Fishlegs loosened his grip on his dragon, causing her to tumble down into the wheelbarrow and onto Johann.

"I'm all right," he called up as we made our way over.

Fishlegs managed to get enough of a grip on the cart to pull it along, leading the rest of us to the cove. I pushed through the crack in the rocks, only to find we were too late. Everyone stood frozen in the cove-- a tableau of hope shattered. I quickly slid down with Toothless close behind, briefly stopping at each person.

My eyes widened and my heart sank as I rested my eyes on my father, holding his sword in midair before he'd been struck. I knew he could still hear me, and eventually might snap out of it, but it was jarring just to look at.

"Dad." Thornado refused to leave the rock, as though guarding my dad. Thankfully, Gobber somehow managed to get out all right, and came to stand by my side.

"He gave as good as he got, Hiccup. It took six of those Speed Stingers to freeze the poor bugger." My father grunted, but because he couldn't move his lips, no actual words came out. "You bet'cha, chief."

"What'd he say?"

"No clue. Don't want to make him feel worse than he does." I felt guilt creeping up the longer I looked at him. 

"I should have been here. Toothless and I could've helped!"

"Nonsense, boy. There were too many of them. Nothing would have mattered. Tell you one thing: those Stingers would be dining on smoked sturgeon and yak jerky tonight if it weren't for your father." He made noises again, still completely frozen. "Couldn't agree with you more, Stoick." He shrugged at me again.

"Hiccup!" 

I whipped around to see Reign running toward me, and I felt immense relief knowing she was okay, too. She wrapped her arms tightly around me, and I quickly returned the gesture, smiling at her despite the grave situation.

"Reign..." Though she pushed away, I kept her at a close distance. "How's everyone else?" 

"Everyone's fine. Well, except for--" She gestured her hand over to a frozen Snotlout, currently being slapped around by the twins.

"Whoa, stop hitting yourself!"

"Stop hitting yourself."

"Actually, when you think about it, it's really not so bad," she joked, crossing her arms while I kept a hand on her back.

"Aw, come on! Your face isn't _that_ ugly!" Ruff hit Snotlout a little too hard, causing him to fall. "Oh, wait." 

I sighed and took a seat against the rock my father stood on, drawing the outline of a Speed Stinger in the dirt as the sun began to set. My eyes moved from the drawing back up to his frame, still frozen in place.

"It's going to be dark soon." Reign's voice was sharp as she approached me. "The Speed Stingers will be back for the rest of the food. Everyone wants to know what we're gonna do." She looked to me for an answer. I looked up to my dad again, and an idea suddenly came to me.

"Gather the other Dragon Riders. We're heading out." She nodded and got everyone and their dragons together while I wiped away the drawing I'd done in the ground. She came back over a few moments later with the others, in various states of prepared.

"Okay, we're ready." 

"Guys, these dragons only come out at night, so we need to find where they sleep during the day. The only problem is we need to find their nest before sundown, or--"

"Can we not think about the 'or', please?" Astrid interjected.

"Yeah. They came out of nowhere, like a pack of wild badgers! Scavenging, and, uh-- and--"

"And badge-ging." Everyone glared at Tuff. "What? That's what a badger does: it 'badges'." Reign shook her head.

"Well, thanks for that. Uh, let's go." I turned to walk away.

"Hold on." I grimaced and turned back around to see Snotlout leaned against some rock. The paralysis had worn off on his head, but the rest of his body remained immobile. "You're not going on a Stinger hunt without me." Somehow, using his head, he managed to push himself forward and stand up straight.

"Whoa. That is seriously creepy."

"His paralysis is wearing off. Lucky us," Fishlegs deadpanned. 

"Snotlout, unless you plan on flying Hookfang with your teeth, you're not going anywhere." I knew Reign was just looking out for his well being, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing she'd told him to stay here. Usually, he listened to her.

"What do you mean? I'm fine!" He tried to move again, but just ended up falling on his face. "Stupid paralysis." 

Everyone began to get together their weapons, only planning to use them in self defense. For as dangerous as these dragons were, I knew none of us wanted to genuinely hurt a dragon... or worse.

"Snotlout Jorgenson, reporting for duty." Somehow, he managed to salute.

"What the...?" Reign stepped closer, squinting at him. Knowing something was up, I bent down and saw a second pair of smaller legs behind Snotlout. Gustav peered out from behind him, a wide smile on his face.

"I'm Snotlout's arms and leg, Hiccup! And together we are--" He jumped back behind Snotlout and began shaking his hands, giving them a little pizzaz (a/n: jazz hands was not a term back then). "--Guslout."

"Stop with the hands," Snotlout barked. "Hiccup, you need as much dragon power as you can get."

"I can't believe I'm actually about to say this, but he's right." I widened my eyes at Reign and looked at her. Did she seriously just renege her warning, right after she uttered it?

"You're kidding, right?"

"You heard what Gobber said: there are hundreds of them." I stared her in the eyes for a moment, but knew I wouldn't win this, and there was no way I'd be able to intimidate her. Sighing, I rolled my eyes and caved.

"Oh, all right. Fine."

"Yes!" He glanced down at Gustav. "Move my arm," he whispered. Gustav moved his arm up to have Snotlout give us a thumbs-up. "Yes!"

"Let's split up and search Berk for possible Speed Stinger hiding spots," I ordered.

"Okie dokie, Hiccup." Gustav started to push Snotlout over to Hookfang.

"Fishlegs, how's Meatlug doing?"

"She is rearing to go, Hiccup! Look at her!" 

Meatlug managed to drag herself over to where we were, her lower half clearly still paralyzed.

"So, what's the _actual_ plan?" Astrid asked, clearly not quite on boar with what was happening here. And I couldn't blame her. The odds weren't looking great in our favor.

"Fishlegs, you said they follow their leader in a giant pack, right?"

"Exactly. That's what I saw."

"So the plan is: find the Speed Stingers, capture their leader, use it to lure them away." Astrid and Fishlegs kept up brief, skeptical glances, but ultimately nodded and decided to go along with the plan.

We all took off in seven different directions, and I hoped to the gods no one would get stung, and those already paralyzed wouldn't somehow make things worse for themselves. Toothless and I searched along the shorelines, double and triple checking every square inch before admitting defeat and heading back to join the others. Nightfall was getting closer, and we needed to find those Speed Stingers before they got the rest of us and overran Berk.

"So, anything?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"Not a single Stinger," Reign sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"Us, neither." 

"I got stung." We all looked at Tuffnut, shaking our heads. If he were actually stung, he wouldn't be as capable as he was at the moment.

"No, you didn't!" his sister shot back.

"Have we checked every cave?" I tried to bring us back to the point. I watched as Snotlout diverted his eyes, looking around but refusing to meet my gaze. "Snotlout-- did you check your caves?"

"Really? I'm insulted, Hiccup," he scoffed. "Of course I did! You think I fell off my dragon and spent hours trying to get out of the sand?" That was too specific not to be true. "Ha! I didn't."

"He fell off his dragon and we spent hours trying to get him out of the sand," Gustav piped up. 

"Gustav, make me punch you!" Gustav reached around and made Snotlout slap his own face, causing the twins to laugh at him.

"Never gets old."

"Well then. We know where to look. Let's go!"

We made a quick stop at the Academy to pick up a cage to trap the leader, then headed toward Snotlout's area to look in cages. The sky glowed a brilliant orange, but we couldn't stop to enjoy it. It was a sign we didn't have much time left before we'd be forced to hide, and who knows if we'd make it out of that. 

Most of the caves were empty, leaving us with one left to check. If we didn't find them in here, we were out of options.

"Thanks, Gustav." I jumped off Toothless and removed my shield from my back, ready to defend myself against the aggresive dragons. "You stay here with Snotlout and Hookfang."

"Right." Snotlout's eyes lit up as he extended a hand out to give a thumbs up. "Hey! I did that all by myself." Tuff immediately ruined the moment by reaching out and slapping Snotlout's arm, causing his thumb to jam into his nose.

"Okay, gang. We have to move fast. It will be sundown soon, and we need to get the lead Stinger out of there. Without him, the pack is useless."

Fishlegs and I headed into the cave, leaving Astrid ready with the cage outside and the others armed to defend and get us out of there quickly if necessary.

"Hiccup, there he is," Fishlegs whispered, pointing up right in front of us. The lead Stinger clung onto a stalactite, hanging upside down as he slept. Red stripes darted across his body, along with a red fin on the top of his head. Not to mention that he was much larger than all the other Stingers.

I shot out the string from my shield and it wrapped around him, somehow not waking him up.

"Got him."

Toothless immediately jumped forward and took the lead Stinger down carefully, making sure not to wake him. He gingerly set him down on the ground, growled at the lead Stinger to make sure he knew who was in charge, then looked at me with big eyes. I nodded at him, and we began to drag it out of the cave. For a moment, it stirred, and Fishlegs and I froze, but nothing else happened.

Then, behind us, a chorus of low growls echoed.

"Uh... Hiccup?"

I looked down to see the lead Stinger's eyes wide open now, pupils narrowed and emitting a guttural growl from his throat. The others Speed Stingers were awake now, staring at us curiously and beginning to move forward, taking in the situation. They growled and chittered as they processed what was going on, causing my heart to begin beating faster.

"Get this Stinger into the cage right away." 

I yanked on the rope one more time, and the lead Stinger cut itself free, shooting up and roaring loudly. I jumped out of the way as it flicked its tail out and attempted to sting me, then Toothless fired a couple plasma blasts at it, trying to scare it off. The other Stingers began to close in, eyes dead set on Fishlegs and I.

A blast of fire shot down from above, and I looked up to see Snotlout and Gustav hovering not too far above us.

"Yeah! Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi!" 

Unfortunately, he was low enough for the Speed Stingers to be able to reach him, and the leader darted out his tail, swiping Snotlout's leg and paralyzing him once again. Hookfang shot out another line of fire to create a wall, trapping the other Stingers inside the cave so we couldn't be overwhelmed.

"He's too fast, Hiccup!" Fishlegs cried.

"Not for a Night Fury." Every time the lead Stinger tried to puncture Toothless, the latter simply moved out of the way before firing at the smaller dragon. It grew frustrated and attempted to strike me. I threw my shield up to block the attack, but it ended up getting knocked out of my hands. Thankfully, Toothless jumped up and hit it right back to me. "Thanks, bud."

The lead Stinger jumped and darted around, while the others shot out through the wall of fire and joined their superior. It roared at the others still trapped inside, summoning them out, and they began to stampede. Thinking fast, I jumped up on Toothless and took off. 

"Astrid, follow us!" She did as told, staying close behind.

"I think I know where you're going with this!" We hovered just high enough that we couldn't be touched and fired relentlessly at the lead Stinger. Stormfly created a line of spikes that trapped it, and with a final blast, we forced it into the cage and the door slammed shut.

"Yes! Got him!"

The two of us landed, and just as Stormfly got her claws around the top of the cage, the other Speed Stingers came darting out, circling our group.

"Hiccup, there's just too many of them!" Reign shouted over the madness. "We're surrounded!"

Suddenly, a loud, booming roar came from above, and my dad descended on Thornado, landing by us. Relief forced a smile onto my face as I looked at him.

"Dad, you're okay."

"Well, you didn't think I'd let you have all the fun, did you?" My dad crouched in front of the lead Stinger's cage and glared at the dragon. "Remember me?" It squawked in response. "Now, get him off my island." I nodded and looked up at Astrid.

"You heard the chief!" 

"With pleasure." She flew Stormfly and the cage with the leader out toward the water, and Toothless and I followed, occasionally blasting a few Stingers back in line as Astrid led them to the ice bridge. They managed to get far across, before one Stinger jumped up and pierced Stormfly, paralyzing her lower half and sending all three of them tumbling onto the thin ice.

"I'll get the cage! Ruff, Tuff, cover Astrid!" I pushed Toothless down to pick up the cage while the twins created a ring of fire around Astrid and Stormfly, causing the Speed Stingers to go right around them. I pushed away a few with my shield, and the others had the misfortune of attempting to sting my peg leg. "Weren't expecting the old metal leg, were ya?" I spotted a solid part of the ice bridge where I could hopefully direct them. "There! The ice bridge!"

Just before we reached the spot, a Stinger jumped high up and ripped Toothless' artificial tail, causing him to wobble as we descended.

"Toothless, we're going down!" The cage dropped and shattered before we skidded the rest of the way. I jumped up and held out my shield, trying to shoot out another rope but finding I'd run out. "No, no, no! Out of bolas. Toothless!" He tried to fire, but he'd reached his shot limit. "And no plasma blast! Great!" The lead Stinger roared at us. "Ready, Toothless?"

"Hookfang, fire!"

Fire shot down from above and created a barrier between us and the Speed Stingers, and I looked up to see the other riders coming toward us. Just to make sure the Stingers wouldn't come back, Shriek roared at them, and with a final cry, the Speed Stingers turned around and headed back toward the vast unknown.

"Nice shooting, you two!" They landed and smiled.

"Ha. No problem, Hiccup." Snotlout was suddenly pushed from the saddle, revealing Gustav still behind him.

"Yeah. No problem, Hiccup." With that, they took off again.

"Hey, put me down! Repercussions! Repercussions!" Reign shook her head and patted the back of her dragon, inviting me to hop up.

"Thanks for not getting stung," she joked, reached back and squeezing my hand.

"Thanks for saving me." She nodded, and after Shriek managed to pick up Toothless, we flew back to Berk. People were finally able to move around again, and the life was starting to come back to the island.

I made a quick dash to fix Toothless' tail, then flew to see Trader Johann off. Reign refused to come, still not trusting him, for whatever reason. I brought him back to his ship and landed on the deck, allowing him to safely climb off.

"Thank you again for the rescue, Master Hiccup."

"No problem, Johann. I'm just glad everything's back to normal."

"Oh! Before you go, I have something for you." He reached into his inventory and pulled out a white jar. "A little token of my appreciation: your squid ink! Wrestled from the Colossal Squid of the Northern Waters." I took the jar from his hands, awed.

"Wow. Thanks, Johann."

"Yes. There is actually a wonderful story that goes along with that bottle." 

And with that, I knew I needed to get out of there.

"Ten summers ago, deep under the currents of the Northern Waters, I was staring directly into the black eye of the..." I leaned down and patted Toothless on his head.

"What do you say we get out of here?" Toothless roared loudly in response before taking to the sky, heading back toward home.


	35. (Reign)

I shot awake to the blaring bellows of an alarm horn. Adrenaline pushed me out from under the covers and caused me to jump down the stairs. I swung my leg up quickly over Shriek's body and secured myself on the saddle before taking to the air. I began to fly over the water, keeping an eye out for any sort of large, white dragon that could come barreling in our direction. Things were going smoothly at first, until a bolt of red and orange darted down from the sky, whooping and cheering.

"Snotlout!" I snapped, glaring at him as he pulled up beside me. "What are you _doing_?"

"I'm sorry," he mocked. "Did I scare your girly little dragon?"

"Out of my way! I have to get to the Great Hall."

"No you don't." He chuckled as he attempted to correct me, cocky in every aspect. " _I_ have to get to the Great Hall. You have to get to the armory."

"Hiccup assigned me to the Great Hall yesterday-- you heard him."

"Tell you what: whoever gets there first-- me-- gets to guard it." I typically wasn't the competitive sort of person, but I wasn't about to let Snotlout take my job. I was confident I was meant to guard the Great Hall, and he wasn't about to budge me on that point.

"Fine by me." I leaned further forward to get Shriek to fly faster. All that training with Hiccup and Toothless was being put to use for the first time. But only a second later, fish were thrown at my face, causing me to teeter slightly. "Aah! Snotlout!" Shriek spiraled a little bit, knocking into someone's wheelbarrow before I got her back into the air again.

"Haha, Reign. I thought you liked cod." I grunted and felt a surge of anger, causing me to fly directly at him. "Oh, no..."

Shriek and I caught up to him and pushed right into the pair, causing both of us to go shooting through the doors of the Great Hall and skidding across the floor. Almost immediately, I jumped up and reached over to try and punch him, but just as my fist came within an inch of his face, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me back. I continued to thrash as anger tensed my muscles, despite Hiccup's best efforts to pull me back.

"Reign!" he snapped. "You need to calm down!" He managed to pull me around and placed a firm grip on my shoulders, trying to get me to come to. "Stop it!" The anger in his voice suddenly dissipated mine, causing me to look around at what Snotlout and I had done.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Hiccup nodded warily and moved his hands to my arm, bringing me outside alongside him, leaving Snotlout to follow. Chief Stoick was already waiting for us, glowering in my direction.

"When you told me you'd be running a Screaming Death attack drill, I assumed you wouldn't actually try to destroy the _entire village_!"

"Technically, Chief, it was just the Great Hall." Chief Stoick halted his pacing and whipped around to glare at Fishlegs, getting in close to him. "And I'll let you take it from here."

"Dad, this was supposed to be a practice run," Hiccup explained, clearly trying to find a way to at least get me out of trouble. "It just got out of hand. I'm sorry." My gaze crossed Snotlout's, and the two of us glared at each other.

"Sorry doesn't un-burn Silent Sven's chest hair." Gobber nodded his head toward the Viking. 

"No, it certainly does not. Which brings me to your punishment." We all looked at each other warily.

I crinkled my nose at the revolting stench as we looked over the unmanned field.

"Ugh," I scoffed. "Mildew's cabbage field." Fishlegs made his way over to an abandoned head of cabbage and picked it up. He took one whiff, and almost immediately discarded it.

“Oh, wow. This is repulsive!”

“Actually.” Everyone looked over to see the twins each eating a rotten head, somehow able to stomach it without flinching. “It’s not that bad.”

“Yeah! Don’t judge ‘till you tried it.” I gagged at the sight of them continuing to eat the rotten vegetable.

“Ok gang. My dad wants this field cleared and ready for planting by the end of the week. Reign, Snotlout, you two break down and clear out the big boulders on the far edge, while—“

“Actually, that sounds more like a man’s job,” Snotlout interjected. My anger surfaced again at his biting comment.

“Hmm. You’re right. Better give me Fishlegs instead," I shot back.

"Huh? Reign, what do you see when you look over here?" He gestured his thumb back to Hookfang, then struck a pose attempting to flex what little muscle he had. I rolled my eyes and jutted out a hip, unamused.

"Is that a serious question?"

"You see five thousand pounds of boulder-crushing splendor."

"Just make sure you don't slow me down, boulder boy." I knocked on his helmet before getting onto Shriek and turning my attention toward the job at hand.

Everyone helped out with clearing away the rocks, meaning Snotlout and I could work together without actually having to work together. Things were going pretty smoothly, until Hookfang suddenly growled at Shriek and knocked into her, right in the middle of us moving a boulder. I glared at Snotlout as the dragons began to circle each other. He really just couldn't keep it in check today.

"Snotlout, what's wrong with you?" I shouted.

"I told you to stay out of my way. This is Viking's work."

"Exactly. So what are _you_ doing here?"

Hookfang's pupils suddenly turned to slits, and he shot out a blast of fire, just barely missing Shriek. My Thunderdrum jumped back, startled, then emitted a sonic boom in an attempt to defend herself. They began firing back and forth, shocking me. Despite how often Snotlout and I fought with each other, the dragons had never gotten involved before.

Hiccup and Toothless attempted to intervene by firing a plasma blast and coming to stand between the two of us, but as the roaring continued, Toothless suddenly joined in and began screaming at them as well. 

"Hookfang, stop! Heel!"

"Shriek, calm down!" I cried, pulling back to try and get her away.

"Whoa! Come on! We're trying to break up the fight, not win it!"

"Hookfang, stop it! Hookfang!"

"Shriek!"

"Guys, back your dragons away from each other!" I pulled harder on Shriek, but she continued to thrash and attempt to jump forward.

"I'm trying!"

"Well, try harder!" Nothing worked, so Hiccup tried to move on. "Okay, everyone to the rock pile." Thankfully, they managed to do that, and Snotlout and I immediately jumped off our dragons and faced off with each other.

"What is wrong with your dumb dragon?"

"Guys?" Hiccup attempted to break this up before it started, but he was too late.

" _My_ dumb dragon? Your flaming Snot-mare was trying to barbecue us!"

"Guys?"

"Snot-mare? _Snot-mare_?" He paused for a moment, as though just processing what I'd said. "I kind of like that," he admitted in an aggressive tone. 

"You would."

"Guys!"

"I would, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah you would."

"How about I call your dragon ugly?" Anger took over me again as everything tensed, blurring my vision slightly.

"I'll tell you who's ugly!" Toothless suddenly roared loudly, shutting both of us up.

"Thank you. Now, somebody mind telling me what exactly was going on out there?" I whipped around to face Hiccup, who jumped slightly at my abruptness. 

"Simple," Snotlout spat before I could say anything. "Hookfang and me were just trying to do our job, when Shriek went crazy and started screaming at us!"

"You have got to be kidding! Hiccup, Shriek and I were doing _our_ job, when this lunatic and his overgrown fire pit torched us." My mind certainly wasn't in the right place, but I hoped he'd support me in this because I was his girlfriend. 

"Oh, come on! When have we ever started a fight just for the sake of starting a fight?" Hiccup and I both glared at him, already mentally making a list of the instances. "Let me rephrase that."

"Never mind," Hiccup cut him off. "Do you two think you can work together: yes, or no?" Despite my still prevalent anger, I refused to say anything, giving Hiccup his answer. He was the one person I didn't want to start a fight with-- even if I knew I would win. "Thank you."

I shook my head and got back onto my dragon, taking off to head home for the day. I sat on things for a while, trying my best to get over this, but I just couldn't. Snotlout had been driving me out of my mind lately with his comments, and it was only putting me in a worse mood. I hated it when Hiccup saw me legitimately angry, especially at someone we were supposed to consider a friend, but I couldn't deal with Snotlout for another second.

That night, I marched up to his hut and knocked on the door. It only took him a second to answer, and he looked pretty nervous about me being at the door.

"Hiccup, I refuse to work with Snotlout." Immediately after I finished speaking, he began pushing me back so we could talk outside.

"Oh, Reign! What a beautiful night, let's talk outside." He slammed the door shut behind him. "Uh, didn't we talk this out?"

"You talked, we listened, as usual. But I'm not going to put Shriek in danger by working with that mutton head, who can't even control his own dragon."

"Ugh! Fine, fine." He placed a hand on my shoulder, but I couldn't tell if he was being genuine or not. "I will deal with it tomorrow, I promise." 

"Thank you," I sighed.

"You're welcome." For a moment, my anger melted away, and I reached up to squeeze his hand. "You really can be so stubborn." I chuckled.

"I'd like to think it's part of my charm." He sighed, clearly trying to find a way to protest, but gave up after a second and reached over to kiss my cheek.

"Most of the time." With that, he turned around and headed back inside, leaving me smiling like an idiot for a while before finally turning and heading back home for the night.

The next morning, Shriek and I got back to work, on our own this time. We peacefully removed the rest of the boulders before digging small spots in the dirt to till the soil. Things were fine at first, until we paused for a moment, and I heard heavy footsteps on the other side of the dirt mound beside us.

"Do you hear that?" Shriek growled lowly, and we came around the other side to see... Snotlout?

"Why, that little Hiccup..."

"Option three," I grumbled. "Ugh! I should've seen that coming."

Option three: trick the quarreling Vikings into working together. A route Hiccup definitely wouldn't pass up, considering the other two resulted in someone dying.

"Well, Shriek and I are gonna prove we're not the problem by working with you." Snotlout scoffed.

"Not as well as we're gonna work with you! Right, Hookfang." He walked down to where I had been working and began to help out, moving rocks and digging in the dirt. It almost seemed like we might be able to get through the day, when the dragons began roaring and thrashing at each other again.

What was going on with them?

Shriek suddenly threw me from her back and roared again, while Hookfang did the same before shooting out a blast of fire. The two of us watched the scene unfold, dumbfounded before we were able to get up again and pry them apart. Hiccup merely shot the two of us a glare, and we knew what had to happen. The three of us headed to the Academy, awaiting whatever would happen next.

"Reign, Snotlout, your dragons are out of control," he stated. "But I think I know why. This is the day I've always feared would come. Your dragons have picked up on your animosity to each other, and now they are behaving the same way."

"Is it my fault that me and Hookfang are so in sync?" In response, Hookfang let out a small ball of fire, but Hiccup managed to pull him away before he got hurt. 

"But you _have_ just given me an idea." He brought Snotlout over to Shriek, then grabbed my hand and brought me over to the Monstrous Nightmare. "You both need to walk a mile in each other's shoes-- or in this case, saddles." It suddenly dawned on me what he was trying to do, and I shook my head. I had a Thunderdrum for a reason, and I wasn't about to give her up to fly this heaving beast. "Perfect."

"What? What's perfect?" I wanted to hear him say it, daring him to go there.

"You two are gonna swap dragons for the day."

"What?" Shriek let out a distressed noise.

"It's all right," Hiccup assured her. 

"It's a girl dragon!" Snotlout protested, much to my disgust.

"If you can learn to understand each other's dragons, then maybe you can learn to understand each other." Hookfang attempted to nudge me, but I pushed him away.

"This does _not_ work well with my manliness."

"You can take the day off and just get to know your new best friend." I rolled my eyes at Hiccup.

"Does that mean that if _we_ start fighting, then we get the day off, too? 'Cuz we will. Watch!" Before Tuff could react, his sister punched him in the head and jabbed her elbow into his stomach. "See?"

"Nope! The three of us, Astrid, and Fishlegs are gonna head out to the field and keep working. My dad wants it done in time for planting."

"I want the day off!" Hiccup sighed and got back up onto Toothless, leading the others back to the cabbage field to continue working.

Snotlout and I stood there in an awkward silence, staring at our dragons instead of actually doing anything. I wanted so badly to just skip out on this whole thing, but Hiccup would know, so I sucked it up and got onto Hookfang, taking him as far away from Snotlout as possible. 

I had to admit-- after a few minutes, I was starting to enjoying myself. I got used to flying him at first, then landed and decided to start working on more complicated matters.

"So, Snotlout's always bragging about how much firepower you Nightmares have. Let's see what you've got, big boy." Hookfang opened his mouth and shot out a long blast of fire, burning a tree to ashes in an instant. A smile crept its way onto my face as I stared at the decimation. "Wow! Incredibly dangerous, but cool."

We took off again, and I began to relax more.

"Okay! Wingspan duly noted, not too much flaming." I glanced back. "Tail looks good." The second I turned around, I noticed we were approaching a fallen tree trunk. "Tree!" Incredibly enough, Hookfang stopped instantly and blew it away with a single flap of his wings. "Wow. I didn't know you could do that. Did you know you could do that? I bet Snotlout doesn't know you can do that."

It was starting to get late, so reluctantly, Hookfang and I headed back to the Academy, where we found Hiccup waiting for us. Snotlout and Shriek landed at the same time, both of them looking pleased as well.

"So, how was it?" Hiccup asked eagerly.

"Shriek flies pretty good. You know, for a girl." I chose to ignore it that time. "And she does shatter solid rock in, like, half a second, which is cool."

"She does indeed. And Reign?"

"I guess Hookfang _is_ pretty powerful," I admitted. "And he's easy to fly, which is good if you have a little talent."

"Yeah. And I have a little talent." He finally registered the fact that what I'd said was an insult. "Wait."

"Well, it sounds like you both have a better appreciation for each other's dragons."

"I guess. It's okay... nice, and..."

"So that means, maybe, tomorrow you'll cut each other some slack?" I sighed, realizing I was out of excuses at this point. Hiccup had completely cornered us.

"Yeah, I guess," I agreed.

"Fine. Can we go now?" Snotlout and I left the Academy. Astrid nodded at me as I walked in the door, allowing me to put my things down before asking questions.

"So, did you have a good time?" I shrugged and reached around her, trying to find where we kept the cod. 

"Yeah, Hookfang can actually be pretty fun to fly. It's just Snotlout doesn't know how to control him." She laughed.

"That's true. But seriously, what do you think's causing the dragons to act like that?" I shook my head as I wrapped my hand around one of the fish.

"I know Hiccup has this whole theory he's running with, but I don't think he's right. The dragons wouldn't just start fighting because we are, would they?" Astrid shrugged and began to climb the stairs.

"Whatever it is, you'll all manage to sort it out somehow. And if not--" She dragged her finger across her throat, causing me to laugh.

"I'll take in under consideration."

The next morning, I darted out and back toward the Academy before Astrid could notice. I wanted to give Hookfang a little treat, as a thanks for such a fun day, but I didn't want anyone, especially Snotlout, knowing I'd actually taken a liking to this dragon. I kept my eyes peeled as I snuck around, until my back struck something, causing me to jump and turn around. None other than the Viking of the hour himself stood in front of me, looking just as shocked as I.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"Nothing." He quickly hid something behind his back. "Nothing. What are _you_ doing here?" I glanced down at what he'd been hiding, recognizing it as what I normally fed Shriek.

"Is that chicken? Shriek's favorite? Did you come here to feed my dragon?"

"No!" I crossed my arms and continued to glare. "Maybe... Yeah." He immediately became defensive again. "Well, what are you doing here? I smell something fishy." I averted my eyes and tried to play things off, but it was pretty clear Snotlout had already picked up on what my plans were.

"Fine. Maybe I brought Hookfang a little breakfast," I admitted, bringing the fish into view.

"He loves breakfast! That was actually... well, nice of you." We both stared for a moment, not used to actually appreciating something the other had done.

"You like my dragon!" we both accused at the same time.

"Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Deal." Without looking at each other, we walked into the Academy and went to feed the dragons. But when we came in, we found the two pens we'd kept our dragons in for the night with the doors blasted off, and the creatures nowhere to be found. "Our dragons are gone!" 

I dropped the cod I'd brought Hookfang right onto the ground and sprinted to Hiccup's, practically dragging him and the others to the Academy. They stared at the doors for a while, trying to figure out what could have happened.

"We've done a lot of dumb things in our lives, but we have _never_ lost a dragon." I rolled my eyes at Tuff. This wasn't even our faults. From the looks of it, the dragons literally broke down the doors to get out. "Not a whole one."

"I am very disappointed in you, young lady," Ruff scolded-- as though she had the authority to do that. 

"Ugh."

"Okay, okay, uh.. they can't be far. We'll split up the island--"

"Actually, Hiccup, I might know where they are."

Everyone turned to look at Fishlegs, waiting for him to explain. But instead, he just took off again, leaving us no choice but to follow and find out for ourselves. Hiccup offered me a hand and pulled me up onto Toothless, and we flew after Fishlegs. He led all of us back to Mildew's cabbage patch, where Shriek and Hookfang were once again at each other's throat's, growling and thrashing, engaging in some sort of battle for dominance.

"We need to break this up!" Snotlout cried.

"Who knows what they'll do to each other."

"I'm open to ideas." I wasn't really formulating any sort of plan, but someone needed to at least attempt to intervene to stall.

"Drop me in!"

Hiccup obeyed without hesitating, surprisingly enough. Snotlout came down as well, and the two of us attempted to get through to our dragons and get them to stop this. Clearly, their hostility wasn't caused by Snotlout and myself because we'd gotten along with the other dragons just fine. So what could be causing this?

"Shriek, calm down. It's me! Everything's okay!" I tried to reach out for her, but she skittered forward, just barely escaping my grasp. Snotlout attempted to jump on Hookfang, but the dragon darted out of the way, causing him to fall onto the dirt.

"They're ignoring us! How do we get their attention?"

"Well, I might have an idea." I jumped out of the way of Shriek's tale. "But it's stupid and reckless."

"You had me at 'stupid'." Shriek jumped onto Hookfang before reeling herself back and digging her claws on the ground, looking as though she were getting ready to charge. Just before she did, I jumped in front of her and started waving my arms. "Shriek, if you're gonna attack him, you'll have to go through me." She hesitated, looking up at me with curious eyes.

"Look, Hookfang, we both know you could totally kick Shriek's tail, but if you want to try, you'll have to go through me."

The dragons let out protesting squawks, but backed off slightly. They were still circling, but the tensions had eased at least slightly. As Shriek growled and lunged forward, I extended my hand out, hoping she'd take the bait and calm down. She hesitated and began to sniff my palm, her pupils widening slightly. After another moment waiting, she nuzzled into my hand and let out an affectionate purr.

"There's my girl." Snotlout thankfully managed to do the same, and Hookfang finally calmed down.

"Ah, ya big knucklehead."

Suddenly, Barf and Belch began to fire haphazardly in the air, spiraling and bucking as though they'd lost their minds. Maybe they'd finally gotten sick of Ruff and Tuff and their antics. Fishlegs and Meatlug dove down to where Shriek and Hookfang had just been fighting, and began to pull on something in the ground. Barf and Belch continued to fire and attempt to dive closer to where Fishlegs and Meatlug were, but Hiccup and Toothless kept fending them off. Meatlug kept trying to pull whatever it was up out of the ground, but to no avail. Barf and Belch dove again, leaving a green trail of gas I knew they'd ignite soon. I barely made out a flash of mint green from inside the hole, and pieces suddenly began to fall into place. Our dragons had been fighting over the Dragon Root!

"I think we better do something." I nodded at Snotlout.

"For once, I actually agree with you."

"But if we get too close, our dragons will start fighting again." I thought back, and something popped into my head.

"I think I have an idea."

"Is it stupid and reckless?" I smirked.

"Maybe even a little bit crazy."

"Loving it!" he declared, despite not knowing what the plan even was. He jumped up onto Shriek, while I mounted Hookfang, taking off toward the same place.

"Looking for me?"

"Reign, what are you doing?" I couldn't tell whether Hiccup was angry, confused, maybe a bit of both?

"Switching dragons again. It's the only way we can keep them from fighting each other."

"He can sniff Dragon Root all day, but Hookfang would never attack Snotlout. He respects him too much." I chose to ignore the fact Snotlout referred to himself in third person, for the sake of getting rid of the Dragon Root. Barf and Belch came by with another stream of Zippleback gas right in front of Snotlout and Shriek.

"Do it, Hookfang! Wing blast!" Hookfang flapped his wings once, creating that powerful burst of wind we'd discovered yesterday. The gas completely cleared and struck down Barf and Belch, keeping them from creating further chaos.

"What was that?" Snotlout looked shocked, confirming he had no idea this ability existed.

"You mean this?" Hookfang did another one, blowing away the gas surrounding Fishlegs and Meatlug. They were still struggling to pull up the Dragon Root, but it was still hanging on by a few pieces. "It's still stuck!" Barf and Belch got back up again and started to close in on Fishlegs and Meatlug.

"I've got this. Shriek, Earthquake!" He looked to the rest of us. "Everyone, cover your ears!" 

We did as told, and Shriek let out a powerful roar, stronger than I'd ever been able to make her do. It shook the ground below us, causing the dirt to crumble away and the Dragon Root to be set free. Toothless and Hiccup landed and bit down on Barf and Belch's tail, keeping them from following Fishlegs as they went to dispose of the dangerous plant. Once they were far enough away, Hiccup came back up again and faced Snotlout and I.

"You do realize what just happened, right?"

"We totally kicked butt!" Snotlout cried.

"Exactly! And, you did it together. Reign and Snotlout working as a team. Who would've thought?"

"Not me." We turned around to see the twins in the air again, stable this time. "I try not to think." I shook my head at them and focused on Snotlout.

"That was some fancy flying on my dragon."

"You know how it is. Chicks dig me." I rolled my eyes at him. Of course he went right back to normal.

"Yeah, that must be it."

"Hey, Hookfang isn't always the easiest dragon to fly, Reign. I have to admit, I'm impressed." I took a moment to savor the compliment, considering it was probably the only one he'd give me in a while.

"So, uh, can I have my dragon back now?"

"Thought you'd never ask." We jumped from the backs of our dragons and returned to the ones we owned.

"Good to see you again, girl." I pet the back of her head, causing her to purr. 

"Aw, miss me?"

With everything taken care of, we returned to Mildew's cabbage field and continued to work. The sun was beginning to set as we wrapped up our jobs, glad we could finally finish the ordeal.

"So, Snotlout, can you teach me how to get her to do that earthquake roar?" I asked.

"I don't know if you can handle it. Why don't you show me that wing-clappy-thingy first, then we'll think about it." I chuckled, setting down my tool.

"How stupid do you think I am?"

"How stupid is there?"


	36. (Hiccup)

I pushed open the door to the Great Hall, revealing a congregation of sick Berkians, coughing and hugging their knees in an attempt to keep warm. I didn’t dare to actually step in myself, out of fear of catching the sickness myself, but I could stare from a distance.

“Hiccup!” I turned my head to see Fishlegs hovering on Meatlug. “Reign went to pick up Gothi. She’ll meet us at the Academy.”

“Oh, good.” I jumped up onto Toothless, ready to finally get something done around here. “Okay, bud. Let’s go.”

Everyone had already packed themselves up by the time Toothless and I got there, waiting for Reign to get back with Gothi. She was the last person we needed before we could set off.

“Ready, gang?”

“Ready to leave Berk during an outbreak of eel pox? Mm… let me think, let me think, let me think.” I rolled my eyes at Snotlout. “That’s a big, fat… yes!”

“The sooner the better. I do not want to get sick.” Tuff crossed his arms over his chest, staring me down with a defiant glare.

“If he gets sick, _I_ get sick.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. We’re twins.” Tuff’s jittery eagerness melted into curious contemplation.

“Wait. So if I hit myself…” He gasped as he came to another bone-headed realization. “Would you feel it, too?”

“Definitely. Give it a try.” Tuffnut slapped himself across the face, believing the lies his sister was feeding him, as usual. “Ow!” she cried, pretending to feel the same pain Tuff did. “Do it again.” He obeyed, but this time, she decided to toy with him. “Aah! Do it again. Harder!”

“Gladly!”

“Ah, I didn’t feel that one.” This time, he hit himself so hard, he fell to the ground. “Ow! Do it again.”

“Guys, please,” I sighed. “We need to leave for Healer’s Island as soon as Reign gets back.”

“Hiccup!” The cry of my name was followed by a weak coughing fit. My dad managed to stumble his way into the Academy, somehow gathering just enough strength to move.

“Dad, you should be resting up at the Great Hall.”

“Nonsense.” He stopped just in front of Snotlout, before violently sneezing on him. “I won’t be grounded by the sniffles.” I tried to approach him, but I moment I saw him readying another sneeze, I ducked to avoid the line of fire.

“Whoa! Oh… kay.” Thankfully, I watched Shriek round the corner outside, and she landed with Reign and Gothi on her back.

“We’ve got the list of ingredients,” she announced. “And… it’s a big one.” Gothi removed a list from her satchel and unrolled it, revealing a large parchment with at least two dozen ingredients on it.

“Well, then we better get moving. That medicine isn’t going to make itself.”

“We should be going with you,” my dad insisted as I made final preparations. I heard him inhale deeply, and stuck my shield up in front of me to block another one of his sneezes.

“Dad, Berk needs a healthy chief, not a sick Dragon Rider. We can handle this,” I assured him.

“All right,” he sighed. “I’ll stay here with the rest of the ­­­______." The others took off already, not wanting to wait to get what we needed. “Be safe, Hiccup.” I turned around and scoffed at him.

“When am I not safe?” He shot me a knowing glance. “Don’t answer that.” I took off and caught up with the rest of the group, keeping one wary eye on Reign. Eel pox was already an incredibly contagious disease, but Reign’s body didn’t exactly have the strength to fight it off. Physically, she was probably one of the strongest people on Berk. But clearly, that didn’t translate into one’s ability to fight off sickness, because when she got sick, it lasted for weeks, even with medicine. So not only was I trying to make sure we got the medicine to Berk in a timely manner, but I had to keep a close eye on Reign to make sure she wasn’t exhibiting symptoms.

Once we landed, I took the list from Gothi and began to read off the ingredients, assigning everyone a small group of items so that this would get done faster.

“Okay, gang. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Let’s get to work.”

Everyone headed off in their assigned directions to pick up the ingredients we needed. It didn’t take long to track down the items, and once they were all brought back, I double checked with the list to make sure we really had everything we needed.

“…Buckthorn Root, lightly roasted. A dozen rock blossoms. One handful of Goatweed. One wild Daga plant… I think that’s everything, right?” I turned to Gothi for approval, but she shook her head before writing something in the sand. Tuff and Fishlegs leaned over the symbols in an attempt to translate.

“She says the last item isn’t on Healer’s Island,” Fishlegs informed us. “The key ingredient for curing eel pox is… a Bloodbane Eel. Where do we find one of those?” Gothi used her walking stick to point out toward the ocean, at some point clearly beyond the horizon.

“Well, great. Because we’re not gonna be able to search the whole ocean this afternoon. We need at least a long weekend for that, you know? Maybe even into Monday night.” Gothi smacked Tuffnut in the back with her stick, pinning him to the ground.

“She says ‘don’t interrupt’. We have to head north to…” He gasped, a horrified look crossing his face. “Eel Island.”

“Our dragons would never go _near_ Eel Island,” Astrid pointed out. “They’re terrified of eels.”

“Not Shriek,” Reign interjected. “I mean, she certainly doesn’t like them, but she’s not afraid of them. I might be able to get in there without much of a problem.” I shook my head. No way was I going to let Reign go in there on her own. I believed she could handle it, but if something went wrong, she’d need back up.

“Toothless and I will come with you.” Toothless grumbled in protest. “I know, bud. Eels aren’t your favorite. But you don’t want Shriek to go alone, do you? Not to mention, you’re the fastest dragon.” He shook his head and snorted, but allowed me to climb up. “We’ll find this eel and be back to Berk in no time. No problem.” Reign shook her head at me.

“You can’t just say that and expect it to be true,” she sighed before the two of us took off. I pulled out a map and stared down at it, trying to get a general idea of where we should find Eel Island. We needed to get back quickly, before the eel pox got more severe. “Why’d you want to come out here, anyways?” Just as I opened my mouth, she stuck up a finger. “And don’t give me that crap about Toothless being the fastest dragon. We both know that was just to get him to come.” I shook my head at her. Somehow, she always got the truth out of me.

“I wanted to make sure you had back up, just in case something went wrong.” She looked offended for a moment, but it quickly melted away into a smile. “Even if you hadn’t let us come, I’d feel better knowing you were out here instead of back on Berk where you could be sick.”

“That was sort of my reasoning, too. I couldn’t go back and just wait until the medicine was done, so I thought it better to make sure we had all the ingredients.” She glanced down at her dragon before meeting my eyes again. “I’m glad you’re here.”

I felt my cheeks heat up slightly, but I couldn’t lose my focus. I reached around and pulled the map back out, matching the coordinates of Eel Island with the large rock formation in front of us.

“There it is: Eel Island.”

“Let’s get a closer look.” I nodded and followed behind Reign as she and Shriek dove down, scanning over the island to try and find some bit of freshwater where the Bloodbane Eel might be hiding. She stopped just above a little pond, and a few eels suddenly jumped out of the water, snapping at us before diving back down.

“Whoa! Eels!” Reign shot me a look. “Sorry, just… surprised. That was quick.” Toothless growled and turned his head away from the sight of the creatures swimming. “This place sure lives up to its name.”

“Well, I’m sure they named it that for a reason,” she teased. Toothless growled and shook at the mere sight of them.

“Whoa! Toothless, I know you don’t like these guys, but we need to do this.” Reign smiled at me.

“Would you do the honors?” I pulled out my shield and shot the rope down, waiting for one of them to bite so I could reel it in.

“I really don’t know how you planned on doing this without some sort of rope to catch the eel.” She shrugged.

“I was just going to reach in there and grab one.” I blinked at her, astonished.

“You’re crazy.”

“Yep.” We exchanged glances before I turned to focus back on catching the eel.

“Now, if I can just… hook one…”

Suddenly. an eel bit down and yanked violently on the rope, nearly causing me to go flying off of Toothless. I pulled back on the rope, causing an eel to fly up. Startled, Toothless threw me from his back. I crashed into the water and watched as eels surrounded me, trying my best to fight them off before one got the chance to sink its teeth into my skin. Thankfully, Toothless shot out a plasma blast to scare away the ones surrounding my body, then dove down, bit off the head of the one in my arms, and pulled me back up. I coughed and gagged as Reign rushed to my side, kneeling down and placing a hand on my arm.

“Toothless dove down before I could do anything, I’m so sorry.” I waved a hand at her. “Are either of you hurt?” As though responding to Reign’s question, Toothless began to roar and sputter in an odd way.

“Are you okay?” I asked him. “Most dragons never even touch eels. You just ate one.” I managed to get up and move a little closer to him.

“I’m sorry, he did _what_?” He hissed and drew back violently.

“Whoa! T-Toothless.” He shook his head as his pupils began to shrink and dilate rapidly. “It’s all right, it’s all right. Just let me get a look at you.” His mouth opened, revealing his typically purple flame had turned a glaring, terrifying red. “Let me look at you. I just need to check you out.”

“I’d be careful, Hiccup. That flame—“ Before Reign could finish, Toothless roared and scampered off.

“Wha-Toothless? Bud, come back! Toothless

I picked up my shield and started to sprint after him, leaving Reign completely behind. I heard her shout something in protest before following after me while I chased him into the woods. He paused for a moment when spotting a bird, as though suddenly hyper-aware of everything around him. He thrashed his head back and forth before shooting out one of those red blasts, causing a bright flash to beam out over the trees.

“Toothless!” I climbed over a downed tree and carefully attempted to approach him. “Hey, bud.” He whipped his head around and stared me down with narrowed pupils. “I-It’s okay, bud. I can help you.” He continued to back up, as though he didn’t know me. “Hey, easy there.” He readied another shot, causing Reign to jump out and stand by me, ready in case something happened. However, his mouth suddenly snapped shut, and he began to walk in circles, completely unsure of what was going on. Reign pulled me down, and I covered the two of us with my shield. Thankfully, Toothless’ blast just hit the trees, completely missing the two of us. “All right. That was big, and… incredibly dangerous. No wonder you guys go easy on the eels.” Reign helped me back up again as he began to fire haphazardly into the air. I pulled her closer to me as I put the shield back up, making sure we wouldn’t get hit if I shot went too low.

“Okay. Six shot limit…” she muttered. “That was four.” He hit a tree right in front of him, causing rocks, branches, and other debris to fly in every direction. “Oh, five!” His mouth glowed red again, and after a split second hesitation, Toothless fired into the sky. I lowered my shield as I let out a sigh of relief.

“And that makes six.” Reign eyeballed Toothless carefully, trying to figure out a way to get close enough without startling Toothless. It was clear he was on pins and needles at the moment, and neither of us wanted to make things worse.

“Whew. Let’s not do that again, okay?” His pupils seemed to return to normal, and we took that as the signal to approach. “But maybe now, we can figure out how to fix—“ Toothless’ eyes suddenly widened again, and his mouth opened with yet another red flame before he managed to snap it shut again. I felt Reign’s fist push on my chest, backing both of us up.

“Seven shots? Are you kidding me?” I wrapped an arm around her, sticking my shield out to protect her from another blast, which shouldn’t have even happened in the first place. Quickly, he fired off eight… then nine… then ten! He kept going in rapid fire, now unable to control the strength and direction. “Hiccup, we need to do something—aah!”

I grabbed onto her and pulled her down as Toothless started to crawl closer, another shot powering up in his mouth. He tried his best to stop it, but at this point, there was nothing he could do to control himself.

“Uh, okay. That one was a _little_ close to the one good leg.”

Reign suddenly reached around and pushed me out of the way, leaving herself vulernable. Toothless fired off another shot right in front of her, launching her body backwards and slamming into a tree. My heart began to palpitate wildly as she slid down, lip as a rag doll and didn’t move. I quickly raced over to her, reaching out to see if she was still alive.

“Reign? Reign, stay with me!” Toothless bounded over, purring quietly as he nuzzled her forehead. She still didn’t move, and for a second, I feared the worst. That was, until she shook her head and slowly raised it, leaning back again the trunk that had just knocked her unconscious.

“Toothless?” She looked up at him, her red eyebrows scrunched in confusion. My Night Fury growled, then backed away and ran deeper into the forest. Reign groaned in pain as she attempted to sit up, but quickly collapsed back down and closed her eyes again. I looked to where Toothless had run off, then back down to the unconscious girl, not wanting to leave either of them.

Sighing, I called for Shriek. She flew down and eyed me curiously, then leaned down and examined her rider.

“Keep an eye on her,” I ordered. “I have to go after Toothless.”

Shriek seemed to understand, turning around to stand her guard in front of Reign. I glanced down at them one last time, then followed after where Toothless had run off. I didn’t get very far, however, before something rustled in the bushes in front of me. Cautiously, I raised my shield and began to back up.

“Uh…”

“Hiccup!” My heart jumped as Fishlegs and Meatlug emerged from behind the foliage, heading straight for me.

“Oh, Fishlegs.” I took a deep breath, allowing relief to replace fear. “Boy, am I glad to see you.”

“Are you okay?” he asked, hopping off his dragon.

“I’m fine.” He glanced around at the scene in front of him.

“Uh, where’s Toothless? And… what did all that? And—oh my gods! Is Reign okay?”

“That would all be Toothless,” I sighed.

“And he was fighting… Reign? But why?”

“Um, yes. But, mostly me.” Fishlegs turned and stared me down with a look of shock. “Also himself, a little bit.” He still didn’t say anything. “Welcome to Eel Island,” I deadpanned.

“Well, did you find any eels?”

“We did…” I played with my hair, trying to avoid eye contact as I muttered the next sentence. “Including the one that ended up in Toothless’ stomach.” Fishlegs suddenly launched himself forward, getting right up in my face and staring at me with what I could only describe as crazy eyes.

“He ate… an eel?” I nodded and pushed away from him.

“And it’s not agreeing with him either.” I made my way over to Meatlug and pulled a spare net from the bag on her saddle, setting it up on the ground.

“What are you doing?” I opened the compartment on the front of my shield and started to pull out the grapple.

“I’m building a netter trap.” Fishlegs picked up the small, metal piece at the end of the rope.

“You really think this net’s gonna hold Toothless?” he asked warily.

“If it doesn’t, Meatlug can always sit on him,” I joked.

“She can hear you, you know.” Fishlegs gestured his head over toward his dragon, only to find her fast asleep, without a care in the world.

“Fun day,” I deadpanned. “I don’t know how much worse things can get.” I tossed the grapple over a tree branch nearby, wrapping it around to secure it.

“Pretty worse, actually. The ingredients for Gothi’s eel pox cure are still in Toothless’ saddle bag, and I do _not_ even want to tell you what’s going on back in the village.” Shaking my head, I pulled on the rope one more time to make sure the trap had been fully secured. Unfortunately, this longshot was all we could bank on. But we needed that cure, and not just to reduce the risk of Reign getting sick. “Well, here’s hoping that works.” I stepped over the trigger and approached Fishlegs and Meatlug. “We’d better get in the air and see if we can track Toothless down.”

We flew around the island a few times, when I spotted something odd in the forest. The trees had been cleared away, with even the stumps gone, with a strange pattern burned into the dirt. Strange, but not foreign…

“Hey, Fishlegs? Does that clearing look familiar at all?” He glanced down at where I’d been looking, then I felt his breath hitch.

“That’s… a Typhoomerang mark!” I suddenly started to put the pieces together.

“The only dragon that eats eels.” Fishlegs’ eyes went wide, but instead of realizing the danger we could be put in, he smiled.

“Oh, that makes perfect sense! It-It’s the perfect habitat for them, really. I’m sure there are tons of wild Typhoomerangs here.” I waited a moment, then watched his face change as the reality of the situation began to dawn on him. “Oh…”

“Yeah. We’ll have to keep an eye out for them.” We searched for a little longer, but Toothless had either gone too far, or had somehow figured out how to disappear. Either way, we hadn’t spotted him yet.

“Hiccup, you said Toothless’ skin felt warm, right?”

“Yeah. Plus, he’s got what you might call an… explosive cough.” Somehow, that still felt like an understatement.

“Okay… put all of that together, and it sounds a lot like—“

“Eel pox! I wonder—if eels cure the pox in people, maybe they cause it in dragons.”

“Could be.”

“So if we give Toothless the medicine, maybe that’ll counteract the eel.”

“That’s… kind of stretching it.”

“If you have a better idea, I’m open.” Fishlegs whipped his head back around.

“Nope. Stretch away, my friend.” Suddenly, a burst of red exploded in the sky, from a little deeper into the woods.

“There! On the cliffs.”

Fishlegs turned Meatlug around and headed in that direction. When we got closer, we had to quickly move out of the way as another red blast shot up. We landed on the cliffs and looked down, seeing Toothless haphazardly jerking around and shooting red blasts into the air.

“All right. Get me in close, but _be careful_. He can’t control where he fires.” We moved down behind a set of rocks. I watched my dragon jump around and fire off his powerful shots, trying to figure out some sort of pattern or wait out an opening.

“Uh, Hiccup… you got a sec?”

“Busy,” I snapped, not moving my eyes from Toothless. “Can it wait?”

“It could. But I don’t think it will.”

Fishlegs pointed upward, and with a huff, I followed where he was looking. My heart jumped as I stared straight into the orange eyes of an adult Typhoomerang. It roared, leering at us and snapping its jaws shut in an attempt to catch one of us. Toothless looked up at the dragon, trying to fire at it, but missed instead. He did manage to hit the rocks just beneath its feet, however, causing the Typhoomerang to take to the air. It shot down a line of fire uncomfortably close to Toothless, but he luckily tumbled out of the way.

“Toothless!” He scurried in the other direction, but the Typhoomerang caught up and cornered him against the cliffs. “Fly us over to Toothless!” Meatlug tried to get in as close as possible and fired a lava blast at the Typhoomerang’s wing, which made the two dragons scatter. Carefully, I stood up on Meatlug’s saddle and looked around. “Meet me in the clearing.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m getting my dragon back. Just keep that big guy busy.”

“Fishlegs and Meatlug… against a Typhoomerang? Does that really seem fair to you?” I didn’t have time to come up with some alternate plan.

“Nope. The Typhoomerang doesn’t stand a chance.”

With that, I jumped down and landed directly on Toothless’ back. He thrashed his head back and forth and fired into the air, attempting to buck me off. The harder he thrashed, the more I had to fight to get my feet into the stirrups.

“I’m not letting go, bud! Like it or not, you’re stuck with me!” The Typhoomerang tried to dive for us, but Fishlegs and Meatlug jumped in the way and fired at it. Unfortunately, that single shot didn’t deter the large dragon, and as it roared, scaring the two of them off. I managed to secure myself on Toothless just as he started charging for the edge of a cliff, which dropped straight into the ocean. “Okay, that’s going to be an issue!”

I felt my metal leg click into place just as Toothless tumbled off the cliff. It slipped for a moment, and just before we splashed into the water, I got myself back in place and opened Toothless’ tail fin. He looped up and around over and over again, now appearing to just gain control of himself.

“This would be a lot easier if you just—“ Suddenly, Toothless dipped down and plunged me into the water. I managed to still hold on by the saddle. “Slow down.” 

I watched the Typhoomerang chase after Fishlegs and Meatlug, suddenly dipping into the water and eating a bunch of eels before somehow re-gaining its shots. They were at a loss, when all of a sudden, a purple blur shot toward them, letting out a roar that stunned the Typhoomerang and knocked it back. Reign and Shriek had come to the rescue, just in time, letting me focus back on Toothless.

“You know, I actually remember when this was easy.” I pulled back on Toothless slightly, trying to get him to heed and steer into the clearing. I managed to divert him in the right direction, but he started to shoot down too fast. “Toothless, if you’re in there, we’re about to—whoa!”

I flew from the saddle as we crash-landed on the ground. Toothless took uncaring steps forward, triggering the netter trap and pinning him to the ground. He tossed his head back and forth, trying to wiggle out as he let out cried of distress.

“I know. I’m sorry about that! Just relax, bud, you’re going to be okay.” He fired a red shot just past me, barely missing my side. Unfortunately, the fire burned up the rope, allowing Toothless to step through. “Toothless, no!” He reared his head and lunged forward, but before he could get closer to me, Fishlegs and Meatlug dropped from the sky, landing right on him. Reign and Shriek landed a moment later. “All right, Fishlegs! I can’t believe that actually worked.”

“Careful, Hiccup,” Reign whispered. “He might shoot.”

“No, he won’t.” Without fear, I approached Toothless and crouched down. “You’re okay. You’re just a little sick, bud. But we may have a way to fix that.”

I looked back at Reign and nodded, prompting her to crouch down and reach through the dragon pile. She managed to detach Toothless’ saddle bag from everything else and start mixing the ingredients. A few minutes later, she handed me a bowl with a green mixture in it.

“Here goes nothing.” I placed the bowl in front of his mouth. He weakly leaned up and sniffed it, causing his mouth to suddenly shoot open, glowing red. Thinking fast, I poured the liquid into his open mouth. He snapped it shut and swallowed, shaking his head and sticking his tongue out. But the red fire went away, and his pupils stopped shrinking and dilating at random.

“Did it work?”

“I’m… not entirely sure.”

Toothless suddenly had a burst of strength, throwing the net off of him and tackling me. He leered right above my face, roaring and sputtering. Finally, he coughed a few times, then regurgitated the eel he’d swallowed hours ago. It landed on my lap, slimy and sticky.

“Oh… great.” He finally looked at me normally, purring like he always did. “There’s the Toothless I know.” I reached up and hugged him. “Welcome back, bud.” The roar of a Typhoomerang sounded from the distance, interrupting the moment.

“Um… while I love the reunion, perhaps we should finish it back on Berk,” Reign suggested.

“I couldn’t possibly agree with you more.” I climbed up on Toothless, and the three of us headed for Berk. We arrived around sunset, and Reign spotted Astrid and Stormfly not far away. As we got closer, I noticed her shudder, and Reign lowered her and Shriek down slightly.

“Uh, you should be indoors, young lady,” she teased. “You’ll catch your death of cold in this weather.”

“Reign, Hiccup!” she cried, relieved. “You’re okay!”

“Yeah.” I looked down at Toothless and smiled. “We both are.” The three of us flew to Gothi’s hut and passed her the ingredients for the cure, which she put together and had us take to the Great Hall. While Gobber and my dad passed out the bowls, Reign and I wrote down the effects of dragons eating eels to put in the Book of Dragons.

“I’m noting the skittish behavior, fever, and the out-of-control firepower.” She finished writing and looked up at me.

“Now we know why most dragons won’t eat eels: it makes them _really_ sick.”

“Except Typhoomerangs,” she corrected. “That’s why they live on Eel Island.”

“And that’s why we’re never going back to Eel Island.” I reached over and squeezed her arm before standing.

“Oh, thank Thor.” I started to walk out, then turned back and smiled at her.

“Hey, Reign?” She glanced up from her dragon.

“Yeah, Hiccup?”

“Thank you. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you. And Fishlegs, of course.” Reign chuckled, then made her way over to me and wrapped her arms around me, sighing. I smiled and leaned my head against hers, thankful to finally be away from the danger.


	37. (Reign)

“Trader Johann’s here! Everybody, Trader Johann’s here!”

I shook my head as Trader Johann lowered the gang plank and Fishlegs scurried up it. Everyone always got so excited about him, but, although I’d never voice it out loud, I didn’t exactly trust him. There was just something off about that guy.

“Pffft. Johann, schmohann,” Snotlout scoffed. “That guys never lets me touch any of his cool stuff.”

“Well, that’s because last time he was here, you broke half of it,” Hiccup fired back.

“It’s my word against his.” Trader Johann stepped out and rested his leg on the side of the boat, looking down on all of us.

“Ah, Berk! The crown jewel of the entire archipelago.”

“Over here, Trader Johann!” He turned to see Fishlegs, Astrid, Hiccup and I had already boarded. “Ooh, what did you bring today?”

“Ah. Many wondrous things, Mister Fishlegs; treasures from every coast and every shore. Like the Pearls of Dyngja—perfect for that special lady in your life.”

“You know, those could be yours, Astrid.” I looked over to see Snotlout leaning closer to Astrid, as though that would somehow make her fall for him. “Just say the word.”

“Yuck.” She crossed her arms and marched away from him.

“That’s not the word, Astrid.” Gobber slowly walked through the piles of trinkets and treasures, eyeballing each of them carefully.

“Mm, nope,” he muttered, passing by another set of items. “Nope.”

“Ahh, Mister Gobber. What can I interest you in?”

“Why don’t you wow me, Johann? Knock me off my feet.” I raised an eyebrow. Gobber was being awfully demanding. I’d never seen him like this before.

“Put me to the test, are you? Okay.” Johann chuckled uncomfortably.

“Hang on.” Gobber hobbled over to a tarp covering some strangely-shaped object. “What’s under here?”

“Oh, nothing too exciting. Just an old pile of—“ Gobber pulled back the cloth to reveal a large pile of metal. 

“Scrap metal! It’s perfect! I’ve run out of things to pound around here.” The rest of us made our way closer to the pile, eyeballing it warily. Tuffnut suddenly gasped and brought his hands to his chest.

“Whoa. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s just scrap metal,” I scoffed.

“No, I’m talking about this mace!” He rushed over and picked up the blunt object, staring at it in awe. “Hey, mace. You wanna come home with me, don’t you?” His voice suddenly switched to a shrill tone. “Yes I do, Tuffnut. I wanna needlessly destroy other people’s property with you.” Tuffnut finally moved back into his normal voice. “Oh, Macey. You get me.” Tuff somehow cradled the weapon against his cheek without hurting himself.

“I see you are a gentleman that recognizes quality when he sees it. This is the finest metal from the furthest reaches of the archipelago.” Gobber picked up a broken sword and bit down on it harshly.

“I’ll take it all,” he declared.

“Excellent! Always a pleasure, Mister Gobber.”

I nudged Hiccup as I watched Toothless warily crawl toward the pile, his nose twitching rapidly. He managed to get just close enough before growling and baring his teeth, backing up. Something crashed behind us, and we all whipped around to see Snotlout standing among piles of broken items.

“Wasn’t me.” He quickly scampered away, arms crossed behind his back.

“I really hate that kid.”

“Hey, Hiccup. Do you think you could spare a hook, son?” I chuckled at Gobber as Hiccup shot me a look, before putting a smile on his face and turning around.

“Sure thing, Gobber.” I turned to the rest of the group.

“Hey, guys?” Everyone nodded and hopped on their dragons.

“Let’s do this, Macey!” Tuffnut cried, holding up his newfound weapon that I couldn’t help but notice he’d just… taken. Snotlout tried to get Hookfang to grab onto one end of the pile, but Gobber marched over and pulled him off.

“Not so fast, you. I paid good money for this scrap, I’ll not have you dropping it into the ocean.” Astrid, the twins, and Fishlegs took the ropes and carried the scrap metal off toward Gobber’s smithy. I got up onto Shriek and flew away, back toward the Hofferson’s hut. Despite having lived with them for a year at this point, it was still hard for me to consider myself one of them. Shriek moved into her place outside, then I marched into the house and plopped down on my bed before removing some drawing tools from a drawer next to me. I stared down at the piece of parchment for what felt like ages, trying to come up with something to draw. For once, my mind had gone completely blank on ideas. Sighing, I leaned my head back against the head board, as though my ceiling somehow held answers.

I was awoken the next morning by confused chatter outside my window. Grumbling, I sat up and reached out for my sword… only for my hands to wrap around air. My eyes widened as I snapped my head over, finding that the weapon I carried had somehow gone missing in the time I was asleep. But… how? Did Astrid take it this morning and not tell me? Did it fall somewhere underneath my bed and I didn’t hear it? Did I sleepwalk and put it somewhere?

Shaking my head, I pushed myself up and checked around my bed completely, before heading downstairs and out the door, finding people gathered and looking around in confusion. As I got closer, I noticed something in common: all of us were missing our metal. I suddenly panicked, and my hand flew up to my chest. I let out a sigh of relief as my fingers touched the outline of the pendent on my necklace through the fabric of my tunic.

“I had those ladles when I went to sleep, and now they’re gone,” one woman complained to the man across from her. My eyes flickered over in their direction, and I spotted Hiccup standing behind them. Shaking my head, I made my way over to him.

“My grandmother’s goblets: gone!”

“Uh… okay? What did we just walk into?” I chuckled as he started to walk toward the gang, all looking as confused as the rest of us.

“My favorite milk jugs: gone!”

“What-What is going on here?” Hiccup asked loudly, as though we wouldn’t hear him if he didn’t shout.

“Ah, a bunch of stuff got stolen from the village last night,” Snotlout answered, crossing his arms casually.

“And some of us are taking it way hard.” Astrid gestured her arm toward the twins. Tuffnut’s arms flailed about wildly as he sobbed dramatically, dropping onto the hard dirt.

“Oh, Macey!” he lamented. “ _Macey_! I… oh golly, she’s gone. _No_!” He collapsed down, heaving a moment before his face shifted, and he pointed accusingly up at his sister. “You! You were always jealous of her! You knew that I loved her more, because I told you every so often, and I wrote it in your room on the wall.” Thankfully, Chief Stoick came over to the rest of us who weren’t in a state of mental disarray.

“We’ve got quite a situation on our hands; axes, shields, helmets, drinking goblets—all stolen.”

“Axes, shields, helmets, drinking goblets… what do all those things have in common?” I opened my mouth to speak to Hiccup, but before I could, Snotlout interjected.

“Obviously, duh.” He pounded his fist against his helmet. “They’re all gone.” I rolled my eyes at him, then turned back to Hiccup and Astrid.

“No, they’re metal. Everything that went missing was metal,” I sighed. “Whoever this thief is got my sword.”

“Reign, everything we own is metal,” Astrid reminded me. I shook my head, trying to ignore the fact I felt slightly embarrassed now.

“I-It’s a theory. Work with me.” Tuff still sobbed over by his dragons.

“Whatever’s going on, I need to find who’s responsible before this panic gets any worse,” the chief sighed.

“Stoick!” Gobber ran up to him, slightly out of breath. “Bucket and Mulch are slapping each other with sturgeons!” We followed Gobber’s eye line, staring as the pair beat each other with the large fish. However, rather than being dumbfounded or appalled, we just shrugged.

“What happened to their bludgeons?” Chief Stoick asked, continuing to stare at them.

“Stolen. Hence the sturgeon.”

“In some ways, I guess that’s probably better.”

“Uh, Dad? What’ddya say you deal with the sturgeon slapping while Reign and I do a little investigating?” He nodded and headed toward the pair, while I stepped closer to Hiccup.

“Investigating? What exactly are you planning, Hiccup?

“To return to the scenes of the crimes and see if we can find out something about this metal thief.”

We both turned to look at Tuff as he headed back toward his and Ruff’s home while he continued to lament his stolen mace. After exchanging unamused expressions, we turned and headed toward Gobber’s smithy. The place had been completely cleared out, devoid of anything Gobber had spent careful hours crafting.

“Gobber, can you remember who’s been here the last couple of days?” Hiccup asked, turning toward the stocky Viking.

“Hmm… hard to say. Business has been booming. There’s only thirty-one days left until Snoggletog, you know? Don’t wait until the last minute!” I rolled my eyes and shook my head at Gobber’s attempt at advertising. Hiccup scanned his eyes over the ground, trying to find any sign of a person who could have gotten in here and stolen some of Gobber’s items.

“No footprints,” he sighed.

“This metal thief won’t get the best of me. I’ve set a booby trap that’s guaranteed to nab him.” Gobber walked without looking where he was going, and he suddenly stopped in his tracks as something clinked below him.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and trying to see around Gobber.

“It would appear that I have trapped myself in my own booby.” Hiccup and I came around either side of him and jumped, staring at the crossbows aimed straight at him. “Nobody… move… a… muscle…”

“Should we help him?” I whispered.

“No, no. I can get myself out of this.” Hiccup and I stared at each other a moment, before he, Toothless, and I backed out slowly, all the while keeping an eye on him. Once out of the way, we ran towards the twins’ hut, hoping they’d be able to give us more answers than Gobber. They had a knack for noticing the out of the ordinary, after all. We entered their hut and greeted the pair, only for Tuff to immediately begin lamenting over his stolen weapon.

“This is where Macey was before her… disappearance.” He turned around to glare at his sister maliciously. Hiccup and I approached the place Tuffnut had pointed at, finding it to be some sort of shrine to the weapon, complete with flowers decorating the wood. “Quote-unquote.”

“I didn’t steal your stupid mace,” Ruff shot back quickly.

“This was her favorite spot. She… just loved watching the sunsets. Or this wall, just depending on which side I put her on.” Quietly, I stepped closer to Hiccup and leaned in next to him.

“This is weird.”

“Yeah. Even for the twins.”

“Hey!” Ruff protested. “Leave me out of this.” Hiccup went over to examine the door, while I crouched down and examined the floorboards a little closer, trying to make sure there were no signs of anyone who could have broken in.

“Strange. No sign of forced entry, not a single footprint.”

“And no eyewitnesses.”

“I just don’t get it.” Hiccup shook his head at the perplexing situation.

“I do.” Both of us turned around to stare at Ruff, raising our eyebrows. “It’s so obvious. And you call yourselves detectives,” she scoffed.

“First of all: no, we don’t call ourselves detectives. Uh, and second: what’s so obvious?” She beckoned us closer, as though what she was going to tell us was some big secret.

“What you’re looking for is not just a metal thief, it’s a _ghost_ metal thief.” Ruff crossed her arms and looked at us with determination, clearly proud of the conclusion she’d reached. “Uh-huh.”

I blinked at the twins for a moment longer, then Hiccup and I turned on our heels, and without a word, headed out of the hut. We were no closer to answers than we had been this morning, and I started to get the feeling we were looking for all the wrong clues.

“Well, that was… helpful, as usual,” Hiccup deadpanned. The sun had begun to set, casting an orange glow over the village. Somehow, it felt ominous, but that was probably more because of the situation than anything else.

“It’s getting late.” Hiccup and I hopped on our dragons. “We’ll start again in the morning.”

I turned Shriek around and directed her toward home, still lost in thought about who the thief could have been… and why they’d only steal metal objects. It plagued me all through dinner, but Astrid knew better than to ask why my gaze lingered so distantly. I tossed and turned that night in bed, mulling all of the possibilities over in my head, until I became so worn out I forced myself asleep.

We all followed the same routine the next morning: people came out and lamented about the things that had been stolen, this time shouting. I still couldn’t figure out who the metal thief could be last night, leaving me feeling defeated as I greeted the other solemn faces. I found the rest of our group, minus Hiccup, and approached them. They’d all been stripped of their metal decorations, and I had to admit, it was kind of odd seeing the boys and Ruffnut without their helmets.

“The thief hit you guys, too, huh?” I’d never heard Fishlegs sound so down in spirits.

“I feel naked without my helmet,” Snotlout whined.

“Me too.” We glanced at the twins as they approached. “But, I made a sketch of the thief. It came to me in a dream. You see, my subconscious has been working overtime, like a sports team that just can’t win.” He removed a scroll from his pocket and unrolled it, revealing a drawing in a perfect mirror image of the person holding it.

“Uh… Tuffnut? That’s you,” I pointed out.

“No, it’s not.”

“Uh, yes, it is,” Fishlegs insisted.

“No, it isn’t. I think I would know myself if I—“ Tuff glanced at the crude drawing again, and as the realization hit him, his facial expression hardened. “Huh. I guess it is. Yep.” We turned our heads at the sound of wings flapping, watching as Hiccup and Toothless landed.

“Hey, guys. I know who the thief is. Or, should I say, I know who our _thieves_ are.” Hiccup said that as though it were some clue, or as though we could figure it out just from that, but our glances of confusion and blank expressions seemed to cue him in otherwise. “Adolescent Smokebreath dragons.”

My eyes widened. The whole idea of a metal thief made much more sense now, but how the Smokebreaths got on Berk didn’t. They weren’t native to this island.

“Of course! Smokebreaths steal metal to build their nests.”

“But why would Smokebreaths be on Berk.” The chief read my mind, most likely because he just knew the island he had rule over and the creatures that lived on it.

“Chief, coming in for the big win! Smothering Smokebreaths normally don’t stray too far from their home on Breakneck Bog.”

“That’s the part I’m still unclear about,” Hiccup admitted.

“I’ve been robbed!” We all turned our heads as Gobber came sprinting toward us, surprisingly limber for having to run on one peg leg. “The thief evaded my booby trap and took all the metal I bought from Trader Johann. Left me with ne’ery a scrap of… scrap!” A piece suddenly clicked into place in my mind.

“Chief Stoick! I think I might know how the Smokebreaths got here.” I turned to the others. “Does anyone know where Trader Johann is?”

“I thought I saw him go into the Great Hall.” Tuff pointed up toward the building. I nodded my head toward it, and Hiccup, Toothless, and Chief Stoick followed behind me. Trader Johann sat at a table along with two other Vikings, telling some story that he thought was funny, but the other two only seemed disturbed by. He turned his head and upon noticing us approaching him, spread his arms wide.

“Ah, Master Hiccup, Miss Reign, and the Great Chief. To what do I owe this pleasure.” I crossed my arms and jutted a hip out, staring Trader Johann down with steely eyes. I opened my mouth to grill Johann, but Hiccup must have picked up on my intentions, because he interjected before I could speak.

“Well, Johann, uh… we were wondering where you may have gotten that scrap metal you sold Gobber.” I reached out and poked Hiccup’s arm, but he just responded by shrugging and looking back at Johann.

“Unfortunately, old friends, I cannot possibly reveal my sources.” The chief glowered and stepped closer to Trader Johann, towering over him. “Over course, there are times when it’s best to share. I procured it from a Berserker who was offering it at a price I could not refuse. He had just come from an island we all deeply fear.”

“Breakneck Bog,” I hissed. How could Johann think to trust a Berserker to buy anything. My gut instinct about this guy only grew stronger.

“You didn’t hear that from me.”

“Oh, well that wasn’t just a pile of scrap metal, Johann. That was a Smokebreath nest with hatchlings inside it!”

“Well, that’s unfortunate news.” Frustrated, the three of us turned away and prepared to attempt and formulate a plan. Toothless quickly got in Johann’s face and growled at him before scampering after us. “No need to thank me!”

“Well, that answers how the Smokebreaths got here.” On our way back to the gang, I watched as people attempted to carry on daily tasks without metal. A merchant attempted to move his product in a wooden wheelbarrow, only for it to fall apart and spill the produce everywhere. Buckets and benches fell apart without their reinforcements.

“Gobber, what’s the latest?” Chief Stoick asked as the Viking caught up to us.

“It’s just as I had feared, Stoick. There’s no metal left in all of Berk.”

“What of the armory?”

“Eh… let’s just say the axe handles outnumber the axes. Oh, and then there’s this.” Gobber knocked on one of the catapults, only for it to fall apart. We were left without weapons, and the only way we could defend ourselves was the dragons.

“Without weapons, Berk is vulnerable.”

“We’ve still got the dragons,” Hiccup pointed out.

“And Dagur has an armada. Six dragons are no match for a large-scale attack.”

Hiccup and I shared one glance, and knew what we had to do. Quickly, we rallied the disheartened troops in the Academy. They all stared at Hiccup and I as we paced back and forth in opposite directions, brushing each other’s shoulders a few times.

“We have to find that missing metal. Especially the weapons.”

“Macey must be so alone and scared out there.” I shook my head at Tuff. “It’s hard out there for a mace.” He began to cry again.

“Maybe the Smokebreaths took the metal back to Breakneck Bog,” Astrid suggested, bringing us all back to reality.

“I don’t think so.” We looked over at Fishlegs to see him leaned over the Book of Dragons, studying it as though it were the key to saving his life. “Smokebreaths can’t fly long distances carrying a lot of weight.”

“Hey, Snotlout, how’d you get your helmet back.” He cackled and pushed the metal item up out of his eyes.

“It’s my spare. A real warrior is never without his helmet.” Astrid scoffed.

“Can’t say the same for his brain,” she muttered.

“What is it with you today? You are so much—“ Before Snotlout could finish, Stormfly shot out a spine at him and struck the spare helmet, causing him to cry out in fear. “Hey!”

“Snotlout, come on. Please focus.”

“Come _on_. Really?” Stormfly fired another tail spine at his helmet.

“If the Smokebreaths didn’t take the metal back to Breakneck Bog, they must have started building a nest somewhere on Berk,” I concluded.

“Awesome!” Fishlegs looked up from the Book of Dragons, and we all stared at him, waiting for him to catch on to what the rest of us had already realized. “Not awesome?”

“ _Definitely_ not awesome. How are we gonna find them? They could be anywhere.”

“Well, there’s only one way to catch a metal thief. And that’s—“

“Wait! Don’t tell me. With a… net! No, no no no, with a rope! Okay! Oh, oh, don’t say it! With a ropey-net!”

“I-I was just gonna say with metal.” Tuffnut cried out loudly, causing me to jump.

“It was on the tip of my tongue! Stupid tongue.” He turned to his sister and stuck his tongue out. “Flick it. Come on, flick it.” Sufficiently weirded out, I decided to turn toward Hiccup—and as a result, away from the twins—and get back to our plan.

“So, we need to gather all the metal from the arena, and bait a trap that the Smokebreaths won’t be able to resist. We lure them in, let them take the metal, and follow them right back to the nest, and all our missing weapons.”

“You did say _all_ the metal, right, Hiccup?” Astrid looked up at Snotlout with a satisfied smirk. It took him a moment to realize what was going on, but when he did, his expression soured and he glared down at Astrid.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me. What about his leg? That’s made of metal.”

“Snotlout!” I snapped, defending Hiccup.

“All I’m saying is, fair is fair.”

“Snotlout, please!”

We all went to gather up what little metal the island had left, throwing it into a pile at the Academy. The sun had set as we were putting the finished touched on it, and just before I went to hide behind a barrel, I felt something cool and slick thump against my chest. Hesitating, I reached down and pulled out my necklace, watching as the moonlight made it shimmer. Any bit of metal could help, but… this necklace had already been taken by the Smokebreaths once, I didn’t want to risk it getting taken again.

“Regin?” I turned around to see Hiccup looking down at my hands. “You don’t have to put that in. One piece of metal isn’t going to make a difference.” I let it fall back against my chest and smiled at him. “But, if you’re going to keep it on, you might want to make sure it’s out of sight so the Smokebreaths don’t take it like last time.” I blushed and nodded, pushing it back down my tunic before running to hide behind a barrel with him.

“I still think we should’ve flipped a yak pie for it,” Snotlout grumbled, still bitter he had to sacrifice his helmet. In the distance, I noticed a cloud of grey smoke approaching.

“Shh. It looks like they’re taking the bait.” The smoke whizzed by, and of course, the first thing the dragons snatched was Snotlout’s helmet. Hiccup and I ducked back behind the barrel and pointed at the others.

“Okay. Very important: no one do absolutely anything until I give the signa—“

“Get ‘em!” The rest of us watched in shock and horror as the twins dove straight for the pile of metal, gas and sparks spilling from Barf and Belch’s mouths, creating a large explosion.

“Yet another plan, perfectly executed,” I deadpanned. “Dragons, everyone!” The smoke cleared to reveal the twins attacking each other, and I watched as the cloud of smoke took off. “Look, there they go! Follow them!”

We took off in pursuit of the Smokebreaths, rushing back to their nest in fear. They had to know we were following them, so there was the possibility they’d lead us somewhere else, away from where they resided. Were Smokebreaths even smart enough to do that?

The dragons ducked down below the cover of the trees, trying to lose us.

“Okay, gang. Split up!” Hiccup called out to us.

I followed him to the right of the group, trying to get Shriek fully up to speed. If I could fly faster than them, maybe I could momentarily stop them in their tracks. Toothless fired a plasma blast at the group, briefly illuminating just how many Smokebreaths there were in that cloud. I managed to get just close enough to have Shriek fire a small blast of sound, clearing the smoke but revealing the small dragons had scattered.

“Sneaky.” I felt the rush of wind behind me as the Smokebreaths attempted to dash away, thinking they’d outwitted me. “Over there.” Hiccup and I took off again, ducking underneath a branch to prevent being decapitated. Suddenly, the smoke began to envelop us, closing in and preventing us from seeing ahead.

“Oh, not this again,” Hiccup huffed, mildly annoyed. Toothless began to roll in the air and fire random, haphazard plasma blasts. I ducked out of the way just before one struck my head, gasping.

“Hey, watch where you’re firing, Hiccup!” I shouted over the noise.

“Sorry!”

Hiccup yanked his shield off his back and fired the bola in the middle. He managed to take one down before another Smokebreath got a little too close, and started to yank on the metal foundations of Toothless’ tail fin. I dove after them as they started to plummet, but thankfully, before Hiccup and Toothless hit the ground, Hiccup shot out a rope and managed to catch on a tree branch. Once they hit the ground again, the Smokebreaths sped by, the rod from Toothless’ tail dangling down.

“Follow that rod!”

The best they could do was run on the ground, so Shriek and I took to the sky again, trying to catch up with the head start the Smokebreaths had. I could feel the tendrils of smoke on my cheeks when I realized I needed a way to get the little dragons’ attention. I could feel my necklace thumping against my chest. My heart dropped for a moment, but if it got Toothless’ rod back…

“You want some metal? Here you go!”

Before I could throw my necklace in, Hiccup cried out to the Smokebreaths and released the rope from his shield. The Smokebreath grabbed onto it and yanked, struggling to get it free from Hiccup’s shield. It pulled a little too hard, yanking him off Toothless’ back and dragging him through the air. Toothless, Shriek, and I followed quickly behind, trying to catch him before the Smokebreaths got him too high off the ground.

“Maybe this was a bad idea!” Hiccup called out as he bounced on the ground.

“You don’t say!” Toothless managed to grab onto Hiccup’s real leg, yanking him back hard enough to pull both the rope and the rod from the Smokebreath’s mouth. It growled at us, but flew away to join the rest of its pack. I reached down and picked up the rod, handing it to Hiccup as Toothless roared at… something up above us.

“What is it, bud?” Toothless refused to move his gaze. “Give us some light, bud.” Toothless fired a single plasma blast into the air, revealing a large ring of metal in the tree tops.

“The Smokebreaths’ nest.” I stared at it for another moment before jumping on Shriek. “Okay, we need to go back and get all the riders so we can break this apart and get it back to the village.” Just before we took off, Astrid and Stormfly swept down and landed.

“Thank Thor! I finally caught up to you,” she sighed, looking at the two of us with a mix of concern and relief.

“Astrid! We found the Smokebreath nest, and—“

“We don’t have time for that now.” A new look crossed her face, one that made my stomach drop.

“What do you mean?”

“We just spotted something on the horizon. Something that may be a _bigger_ problem than the Smokebreaths.”

She didn’t have to say it, I immediately understood. For a moment, I felt horrified, then my fists clenched in anger and I felt a rush of adrenaline come on.

“Let me deal with my brother,” I growled.

“Reign!” Hiccup stopped me before I recklessly took off, grabbing my arm. “You don’t have your sword.”

“You don’t think I can beat him hand-to-hand?”

“I think you could beat Dagur hand-to-hand. But you can’t beat his entire armada. None of us can, we don’t have any weapons.” I sighed and slumped down slightly on Shriek.

“You’re right.” Astrid led the two of us to a cliff side, where we could just see the ships over the horizon. Hiccup pulled out his spyglass to get a better look, staring for a long time before bringing his arm back down.

“What is this guy, the king of armadas? Does he go anywhere without one?”

“It’s like he knew we’d be defenseless.” Something suddenly dawned on me.

“He did.” Without another word, I rushed off to find the chief and the others, relaying what I’d just put together in my mind. “Chief Stoick! I think Dagur might have set this whole thing up, with the Smokebreaths and everything.”

“And what makes you say that, Reign?”

“Trader Johann said he bought the scrap metal from a Berserker.” As the others started to catch on, they chimed in.

“And it was from Breakneck Bog,” Fishlegs added.

“Dagur planted those dragons,” Astrid concluded. “He knew what they would do.”

“Hiccup, Reign, you found the Smokebreath nest. You and the other riders go to it and get our weapons,” Chief Stoick ordered.

“They’ll be protecting it by now. We don’t have enough time to deal with the Smokebreaths and get back here before Dagur attacks.”

“Then I say we go out there, and blast those Berserkers with what we’ve got!” I shook my head at Snotlout’s suggestion. Under any other circumstance, that wouldn’t be the worst idea. But we didn’t have the resources for it now.

“Even with our dragons, the seven of us won’t be able to take out those ships alone.”

“Well, if we cut ourselves in half, we’d be…” Tuff tried to do the math in his head, but doing that sort of calculation clearly proved to be too difficult for him. “…twice as many!”

“Just once, try stopping it between here, and here.” Astrid pointed to her head and mouth respectively.

“No, he’s… actually on to something.” I stared at Hiccup in disbelief.

“See? I’ll get an axe.”

“What? No! We don’t need an axe—we don’t need more of us. We need more dragons.” I placed a hand on his shoulder and moved around to face him, one eyebrow raised as it started to dawn on me what he might be suggesting.

“What are you saying, Hiccup?”

“Why fight _against_ the Smokebreaths, when we can fight _with_ them. Everyone, bring any metal you might still have in your houses. It doesn’t matter how small it is.” With that, Hiccup dashed off toward his hut. I stood there and stared for a moment, before shaking my head and choosing to roll with this.

“You heard Hiccup!” The seven of us hopped up on our dragons, readying ourselves to carry off the metal. Gobber approached Hiccup and Toothless, unscrewing the hook he currently had on.

“I bludgeoned my first Outcast with this.” He placed it in Hiccup’s hands. “Take good care of it.”

“Thank you, Gobber. I will.” The two of us took off toward the Smokebreath nest, flying a little faster than normal as we were pushed by our sense of urgency.

“So, when were you going to mention to Gobber we’re sending all this metal to the Smokebreaths?” I teased, leaning a little closer as he turned red.

“Uh… we’ll get to that… eventually.”

“Mm-hmm.” The rest of the gang caught up, carrying nets filled with metal, and Hiccup and I led them toward the site of the Smokebreath nest. Instead of stopping, we just flew quickly over them, making the metal clang in the nets and drawing the attentions of the Smokebreaths. I heard them screech, and when I looked back, I saw the cloud of smoke following us.

“Okay, there they are. Pick up the pace! If they get this metal, we’re done.”

Quickly, we all looped back around and headed toward the water, leading the Smokebreaths along with us. The Berserkers, for whatever reason, had yet to attack Berk. Maybe my brother was waiting for some sort of surrender. If that was the case, he was about to be disappointed. We passed the docks and flew right toward my brother’s armada, deadest on getting rid of them before they decided to do something.

“Dagur’s fleet, up ahead.” Once the smoke covered the ships completely, Hiccup gave the signal. “Okay, gang! Metal, away!”

We released our dragons’ grips on the nets, dropping the metal down onto the ships. The Smokebreaths squealed in delight, then dove down to collect their materials. I heard Dagur call out from below as the smoke began to clear, revealing most of the metal had been stripped. The only problem? The ships were still afloat.

“Hiccup, I thought the Smokebreaths were supposed to—“

“Wait for it.”

The masts of the ships suddenly unraveled, causing the people below to be sent running across the deck. With most of the weight of the ship now on the deck, then began to sink down into the salty sea, boards completely coming apart without their nails. With the task accomplished, we headed back to Berk’s shore and began to dismantle the Smokebreath’s nest. Everyone would soon get their metal back, Tuffnut was reunited with that stupid mace, and Berk could once again defend itself. We landed before Chief Stoick, who approached us with a smile and a chuckle.

“Well done, son!”

“We’ll return everyone’s metal once we get the Smokebreaths back to Breakneck Bog.”

“And how do you plan on doing that.” I smirked.

“I think I know someone who would be happy to help us.” Hiccup turned to me and poked my arm.

“For the record, if he asks, this was all your idea.” I winked at him, then headed back toward the slowly dismantling nest to gather up some metal to hand off to our special helper. Once it was all loaded up onto the net, I closed it and took off toward the familiar ship, setting it down on the deck. A cloud of smoke followed me, descending down upon Johann.

“But, Miss Reign, this can’t be the only solution!” he called up.

“Think of the story you’ll have to tell!” I shouted after him. “Next stop: Breakneck Bog.”

I watched to make sure the ship disappeared over the horizon, then turned and headed back toward Berk.


	38. (Hiccup)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Reign in this chapter is gonna take a hot minute, but don’t worry. It would make literally no sense to write a chapter without Reign in it.

I grunted as my fingers wrapped around the large, metal object, lifting it and moving it right into place.

"There. That should do it." I peered around the other side of my latest invention, looking over at my sleeping Night Fury. “So, what do you think, bud?” He perked his head up from his nap, tilting his head to indicate he didn't quite understand. “Ah, reserving your opinion until you see it work,” I teased. “I’m good with that.”

“Hiccup! Are you up there?” I heard the roar of a Thunderdrum before my dad emerged from below the cliffside. He hopped off his dragon, landing with a sort of dramatic flair. “Thornado and I were busy surveying the village, and—“ His eyes rested on my invention, causing him to stop short. “What in the name of Thor is _that_ contraption?”

“I call it the Thunder Ear! It can track dragon sounds from miles away, and that, hopefully, includes our friend, the Screaming Death.” He peered down the smaller end of the horn. “You’re just in time to see me demonstrate.”

“All right. Demonstrate away.”

“Okay, now put your ear up to his.” I gestured to the smaller end my dad had been peering through. “Toothless, plasma blast.” He shot out a purple blast of energy, signaling to Fishlegs and Meatlug out at sea to make noise. My dad’s expression remained stagnant for a moment, then suddenly, his face flashed with surprise before his brow furrowed.

“All right, Fishlegs. You and Meatlug come out from wherever you’re hiding. Very funny, son. Joke’s on the chief.” I reached into Toothless’ saddle bag, pulling out my spyglass and then handing it to him.

“Dad, it’s not a joke. Look.” He peered out over the horizon, right in the direction I’d sent Fishlegs and Meatlug earlier. He made a face, as though he didn’t want to believe it at first, but quickly turned to acceptance.

“I think we could use this to hear enemy ships approaching as well. That Thunder Ear gets the chief’s seal of appro—“ My dad pressed his ear against the Thunder Ear again, appearing confused. “Hold on a second.” He grabbed the Thunder Ear and whipped it around, facing it toward the village. “Right hook man, eh?” I raised an eyebrow, confused and unaware as to what my dad was referencing. He turned my invention around _again_ , this time in the complete opposite direction. “You can signal Fishlegs and Meatlug to stop. I don’t know who’s a worse singer, the boy or the dragon.”

I could vaguely hear something that sounded like screaming coming from the other end of the Thunder Ear. For a moment, my heart jumped, thinking it could be the Screaming Death.

“Uh… that’s not Fishlegs.” I leaned down and listened closely to the roaring and screaming. Thankfully, the sounds didn’t match that of the Screaming Death. “No, definitely _not_ Fishlegs.”

“If it’s not Fishlegs, then who, or what, is it?”

“Only one way to find out.” I made my way over to Toothless and hopped on.

“My thoughts exactly.” My dad whistled to call Thornado, who emerged from the cliffside. “Ah, would you look at that. I never get tired of seeing that magnificent beast make his entrance.” My dad followed me toward where I thought the source of the noise was.

“I thought it was coming from out here.” A few seconds later, Thornado suddenly took a nose dive down

“Whoa! Thornado, I’ll do the steering, if you don’t mind.”

“No, Dad, let him go. I-I think he hears something.” Sure enough, we rounded around the side of some sea stacks under the guidance of Thornado’s judgement, and spotted three small dragons bouncing around.

“Are those…? Baby Thunderdrums!” They chittered and jumped up and down upon spotting my dad and I.

“Odin’s ghost! No wonder Thornado knew where to take us.” Something about this situation still confused me, however.

“But what are they doing all the way out here by themselves?”

We sped past them in an attempt to land, but before we could, the baby Thunderdrums took to the air and started to circle Thornado quite aggressively.

“Hey! Watch yourselves!” my dad scolded, trying to shoo them away as they blocked his view. “I’m a chief, you know.”

“Dad, they’re just kids,” I reminded him. “They’re playing.” The blue baby Thunderdrum flew up toward my face and let out a single, blunt screech before flying back toward the others. They hovered in front of my dad and Thornado, snaking back and forth between each other.

“Someone needs to tell them that playtime is over.” Thornado glowered at them, and let out a sonic boom, causing the little dragons to scatter.

“It looks like someone just did,” I chuckled.

“I taught him that,” my dad bragged, patting Thornado gently.

“I thought I recognized that roar.” The baby Thunderdrums returned to their spot, sunning themselves on the sea stack. “Y-You do have to admit that they’re kind of, well…”

“Cute? Cuddly?”

“I was going to say cool.” Quickly, I switched the subject to the question at hand. “Hey, so, uh… Dad—“

“Eh-eh,” he interjected. “Hiccup, I know what you’re going to ask, and you might as well forget it.” The baby Thunderdrums let out some sort of animalistic cry, as though signaling something to Thornado. “There’s enough racket on Berk with the twins.”

“No, no, I guess… I guess you’re right. I just hope they’ll be okay.”

“Of course they’ll be okay,” my dad attempted to assure me. “They’re Thunderdrums, after all. Toughest dragon in the archipelago.” Toothless turned his head and glared at my father. “That’s right. I said it.” He turned Thornado around and headed back in the direction of Berk.

“I’ve created a monster,” I mumbled, moving to follow in suit. By the time we got back to the island, the moon hung over our heads. Reign and Gobber came out from the smithy, the former moving to my side and helping me down from my dragon. I offered her a smile, gently placing a hand on her shoulder as an apology for leaving her all day.

“Out for a little father/son flight, were we?” My dad eyed Gobber with a slightly hostile look.

“Actually, we were just testing the Thunder Ear.” I felt Reign chuckle. I’d ranted and raved to her about the frustration of building the thing, it would be hard for her to focus on the good of the situation after the stress it caused me.

“The Thunder Ear? Is that what you’re calling it? Catchy.”

“Oh, I’m glad you like it, Gobber, because you and the Thunder Ear are on night watch together.” Gobber’s cheerful expression turned to one of shock and disdain. “All night, as a matter-of-fact.” Gobber hesitated for a moment, as though unable to find the right words.

“You know, I’d love to, Stoick. Really, I would. But I’m performing my one Viking spectacular at the Great Hall tonight, closing with a rousing rendition of the Reindeer ____ with the pan pipes.” He held the instrument in the air triumphantly, as though that excuse could save him from his duties assigned by the chief himself. “It’s sublime.”

“I’m afraid the village will have to do without your pan pipes tonight, Gobber, because my _right hook man_ is going to be doing his duty for his chief. The one who’d be nothing without him.”

“Thunder Ear,” I shrugged.

“I’ve got a different name for it.”

Reign glanced at me quizzically, but all I could do was shrug. Pieces sort of started to fit together from earlier, but I still didn’t understand the full puzzle. Shaking her head, Reign moved herself around to face me and smiled.

“So, what did you and your dad see out on the Thunder Ear tests?” She paused for a moment. “Well, first of all, did it work?”

“Perfectly. We could hear things from the farthest reaches of the archipelago, including…” I build up the tension for a moment. “Baby Thunderdrums!” Reign gasped, bouncing on her toes a little.

“Baby Thunderdrums? Aw.” The joy suddenly wiped from her face. “Wait, were they with their mother? Are they going to be okay out there on their own?”

“I hope so. They probably just strayed out too far from home. They’ll know their way back.” Easing back down slightly, she nodded and turned to look at her own Thunderdrum, Shriek. “They seemed pretty compelled toward Thornado, probably because he’s another Thunderdrum.” She wouldn’t tear her green eyes from the purple dragon. “Reign? Is everything okay?” Reign shook her head and looked toward me with a smile, but I could see the force behind it.

“Oh, yeah. We’re all good here.” She reached out and squeezed my arm. “I think it’s time for bed. I’ll see you tomorrow, Hiccup.” I sighed and watched her return home, making sure she’d get there safe before going to my place and heading up to my room. Exhausted, I flopped down onto my bed and closed my eyes.

The ground shook, and I was thrown off my bed by the violent tremors first thing in the morning. My eyes shot open in alarm, slightly confused and disoriented.

“Oh! What-What? What’s happening? What?” I quickly shot up and raced down the stairs, finding my dad already awake. “What’s going on?”

“I was about to ask you the same question.” The two of us rushed out the front door, eyes quickly darting around to try and find the source of the tremors. Reign and Shriek rushed over to us, eyes wide.

“Hiccup?”

“I have no idea. But something tells me we’re about to find out.”

Suddenly, a blur of green, purple, and blue shot past us, chasing some sheep. My eyes focused on the figures, and then went wide. The baby Thunderdrums were somehow here on Berk! The purple one continued to chase the sheep, while the green one knocked over a cart of produce and the blue one dashed into the Great Hall. A second later, two Vikings rushed out carrying frying pans, looking around for the Thunderdrum.

“Still think they’re cool?” My dad looked down at me, his expression stern enough to tame even the largest dragon. 

“Oh… I’m on the fence.”

“Well, get off it and do something before we have to rebuild the entire village!” Reign and I jumped on our dragons and headed off to try and wrangle them. Fishlegs and Meatlug approached the purple and green ones, smiling down before they blasted him out of the way. The blue one found the Thunder Ear, sniffing and inspecting it before roaring once, causing the thing to completely collapse.

“Okay, guys!” I glanced over at Reign, who’d suddenly tensed up upon shouting. “Fun time’s over.” She began to chase after them, corralling them throughout the village. I stared for a moment, then decided to follow. I didn’t think she’d need the help, but any number of things could happen. “Duck, silent Sven!” The Viking hit the dirt, just narrowly avoiding getting hit. “Sorry about that, Sven!”

We watched the Thunderdrum’s flight path, and both let out a horrified and frustrated gasp as we watched them fly right toward Gobber’s smithy.

“Oh, come on. Not the—“

The baby Thunderdrums rushed into the stall, throwing around all the hand crafted weapons and other metal accessories.

“My shop!” Gobber cried, staring in disbelief.

“Sorry, Gobber!” Reign cried. “We’re trying our best!”

As we took to the air again, Astrid rushed over on Stormfly, shooting us the usual look when Reign and I screwed something up.

“Should I even bother asking what’s going on?” 

“Out-of-control, baby Thunderdrums,” I sighed. “ _That’s_ what’s going on.” Suddenly, the blue one flew up beside me and roared in my ear. I quickly clapped my hands over them to attempt and minimize the amount of sound getting in, but I could still hear a faint ringing.

“And I’m guessing you’d like them under control.”

“That’d be preferred, yes,” Reign shouted. “Can you help us wrangle them into the Academy?”

“Thought you’d never ask!”

The moment we dove toward the three little dragons, they twirled in a circle and sped off, completely eluding our grasp. I heard Reign let out a frustrated sigh, and she pushed ahead of Astrid and I. Shriek kept roaring at them, but it seemed to do nothing except get them to turn around for a split second, before flying off again.

“Wow… they’re slippery little guys!” Astrid exclaimed.

“Yeah, no kidding.” The trio flew over the twins’ heads, forcing them to duck at the last second before those mischievous smiles crept onto their faces.

“Whoa!” Ruff cried, staring at the dragons fading into the distance. “What are those things?”

“They are loud and destructive dragons,” I informed them. “We have to stop them!” I should have known this was a mistake, telling the twins something capable of destruction was on the loose.

“Oh _contraire._ We must _own_ them!” Tuffnut declared.

“Immediately.” They took to the air and attempted to chase after two of the dragons, but they pulled Barf and Belch’s heads in different directions, causing the dragon to roar in pain before plummeting toward the ground. Snotlout tried to get Hookfang to speak up, chasing one of the Thunderdrums that had broken formation.

“You’re all mine!” I heard him shout. Reign and Shriek pushed ahead of me and tried to catch up to the blue Thunderdrum. Shriek roared over and over again, trying to get them to halt as they tore a path through the village.

“You’d think they’d listen to her!” Reign cried, slightly exasperated. She looked almost ready to give up on them, when my dad and Thornado slammed down on the dock in front of us. Thornado only had to roar once, and all three of the Thuderdrums stopped in their tracks and stared up at him.

“Well done, Dad.”

“Look at that,” Reign marveled. “They’re putty in Thornado’s hand… paw… claw? Whatever.”

“Okay, we want that one!” Tuffnut declared, pointing at none of them in particular.

“No, that one!” his sister shot back.

“It’s such a hard decision. We’ll take the set.” My dad and Thornado took to the air again, hovering just above us.

“ _Quiet!_ ” he shouted, clearly at the end of his rope. “Hiccup, I want you to get those troublemakers off this island _now_.”

“Okay, we’ll go.” Reign and I looked over at Tuff with expressions flashing between unamused and confused. “But know this: our mother will miss us.”

“Not you,” I sighed, “the dragons.” Relieved, Tuffnut chuckled and pointed toward my dad.

“You had me there for a minute, Chief. Because we’re… also… troublemakers.” I shook my head and attempted to steer the conversation back in the right direction.

“Dad, don’t you think we’d be better off training them? Think about it: they’re fast, powerful—“

“Destructive, loud, and out of control,” my dad interjected.

“Uh, Chief? You’re kinda making Hiccup’s argument for him.”

“The lad’s got a point, Stoick.” Reign and I turned our heads to see Gobber approaching, seemingly out of nowhere. “A squadron of Thunderdrums would be tough for Dagur and the Berserkers to defend against.” My dad sighed, contemplating it for a moment before looking down at us.

“You really think you can get them under control, son?”

“I _know_ we can. I mean, look at how great Thornado and Shriek turned out to be.”

“Well, he is quite spectacular,” my dad chuckled. Reign looked over at me and smiled, then pat her purple Thunderdrum on the top of her head.

“We can do it, Chief. Please let us try,” Fishlegs pleaded. My dad sighed, but ended up caving.

“All right, fine. But the first sign of trouble, they go.” He glanced down at his dragon. “Thornado isn’t their mother or a babysitter, he’s got chiefing to do, just like I do.”

“What sort of chiefing is a dragon supposed to do?” I heard Reign mutter.

“Dad, you won’t be sorry. I promise. I already have a whole plain laid out on how to train them,” I lied, hopefully with enough conviction to convince my dad. Satisfied, my dad and Thornado took off back toward home to attend to their business, leaving the rest of us to deal with the baby Thunderdrums.

“You promise, eh?” Reign teased, crossing her arms as she glanced in my direction.

“We’ve tamed tougher dragons before, right?” She rolled her eyes at me. “How hard can it be to get these guys to cooperate?”

“Famous last words, Haddock.” I shook my head at her, then somehow, we managed to wrangle the baby Thunderdrums back to the Academy. For a moment, they were quiet, walking around on the stone floor with content looks. But as soon as they grew board, they started to scream and fly around in circles. Grimacing, we all clapped our hands over our ears in an attempt to block out some of the sound.

“Okay!” I heard Reign shout over the cacophony. “Now would be a great time to roll out that big plan of yours!”

“Uh… right, right! Big plan!” I trailed off awkwardly, and Reign immediately caught on.

“Let me guess: you have no plan?”

“You-You’re right. That would be correct.”

“Well, don’t you think you better get one before our ears explode?” I glared at Snotlout, trying to signal that he was not helping.

“Wait, our ears can actually explode?”

“Let’s see!” Ruffnut grabbed hold of her brother and yanked him out toward one of the Thunderdrums that had landed. It sent a sonic boom right into his face, but rather than flinching, he just stood there and took the impact.

“Explode! Explode!”

“Come on! Don’t encourage them,” I scolded.

“The twins, or the Thunderdrums?”

“Neither.” I tried my best to pull us back together and come up with a plan to try and train these guys.

“Uh, all right. Um… I guess the first thing we should do is… name them!” 

“No,” Snotlout deflected. “The first thing we need to do is get them to shut up!”

“Over here!” Fishlegs sprinted over to one of the Thunderdrums and set something down in front of it, managing to knock Tuffnut out of the way in the process. Within seconds, the other two scurried over, and they all went completely silent. “Dragon Nip: old school, but effective.” Their eyelids began to droop as they fell into a dazed state, finally giving us some peace and quiet.

“Great, but we can’t have them laying around in a haze doing nothing all day.”

“Yeah, that’s what the twins are for.”

“Whoa, whoa, don’t judge. We already did something today.” Tuff sounded all proud, but something told me whatever it was wouldn’t actually be much of an accomplishment.

“Yeah.”

“What?” Snotlout asked, sounding as though he were talking to children. “What did you do?”

“What did we do? What did _we_ do?” Ruff paused and turned toward her brother. “What did we do?”

“We named them.”

“Oh.” Reign crossed her arms, appearing mildly amused. “This should be good.” 

“Oh, it is.” The pair stood behind the three Thunderdrums, and as they listed off the names, pointed at each one.

“Ready? Wait for it…” They started with the green dragon, then went down the line. “Bing…”

“…Bam…”

“…and… Lloyd.” Reign furrowed her brows and glanced at me, shaking her head. They’d actually gotten off to a pretty impressive start, and then just completely tanked. “You can thank us later.” Everyone remained silent for a moment, before Fishlegs snapped out of the state of disbelief.

“Call me crazy, but I’m thinking there might be a more logical choice than ‘Lloyd’.”

“Like what?” Ruffnut scoffed.

“Uh, ‘Boom’?”

“Oh, yeah. I guess _that_ could work. No way. How about Darren?” We all looked around at each other, completely baffled. You couldn’t make this up if you tried.

“Sorry, Lloyd.”

“All right, now that that’s all taken care of, let’s try some actual training,” I suggested.

“Uh, voting is still open on the ‘Lloyd’ thing, though. Right?” I rolled my eyes. “Right?”

“Oh, gods…”

“Okay, just checking. Darren’s still on the table though, right? No?”

I focused back on the baby Thunderdrums, who were up and at ‘em again. Clearly, the effects of the Dragon Nip had worn off, which would hopefully work in our favor when it came to training them. Closing my eyes, I reached out one of my palms in their direction and waited for something to happen. Surprisingly, Bam immediately nuzzled into it, letting out cute, little purrs.

“Wow. That could’ve gone far worse.”

I spoke too soon. The moment those words left my mouth, Bing and Boom let out a loud roar, throwing me back against Fishlegs and Toothless with a shocking amount of force. I cried out as I felt a sharp pain rip through my lower back, but attempted to limp right back toward the dragons.

“You mean like that?” Fishlegs called out, still on the ground.

“Uh, exactly like that.”

I tried to move back into the fray, but Reign stuck her arm out and prevented me from taking another step closer.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she scolded. “You’ve already injured yourself, and we’ve been at this for only thirty seconds. Someone else is going to try.” She nodded over to Astrid, who motioned for Stormfly to move in the middle of the circle of Thunderdrums. They started to fly around her, but had yet to misbehave.

“Stay,” Astrid ordered, her arms extended out. “Stay.” Despite her best efforts, they continued to circle her dragon. “Clearly ‘stay’ isn’t in their vocabulary.” Stormfly snapped and bit at the dragons as they attempted to cling to her back, causing them to scatter and chitter in annoyance. “Well, that should teach them.”

Bing, Bam, and Boom suddenly came rocketing back toward us, causing the three of us to quickly duck in order to avoid being struck or roared at. They attempted to attach themselves to Stormfly again, causing the poor Nadder to stumble before crashing into some barrels.

“Snotlout, you’re up!” Reign shouted, looking over toward the Viking. He grabbed a few barrels he’d been leaning on and set them up, revealing red and white targets painted on the bottoms.

“This is what you guys need—something you’re _supposed_ to destroy.” I glanced at Reign warily, but she just shrugged, clearly intrigued. “Hookfang, show ‘em how it’s done.” Hookfang readied a long blast of fire, and managed to knock down one of the barrels without burning it. Snotlout wore a proud smirk as he picked the target back up and readied it for Bing, Bam, and Boom. They simply stared up at him with blank expressions. “Here.” Snotlout pointed at the targets. “Right here, Thunder-dumbs. Do I really need to spell it out for you? Destro—“

Suddenly, the three dragons let out a sonic boom, firing Snotlout right into his own targets. They managed to knock all of them down with his body, but that wasn’t exactly the goal.

“Bull’s-eye,” he announced weakly.

Reign didn’t even have to say a word this time, Fishlegs was already rearing to go. He held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, and I could _feel_ Reign’s grimace as we watched the scene unfold.

“Okay, I’m gonna show you how to disarm an attacker.”

“This can only end poorly,” Reign whispered, resting a hand on my shoulder as she leaned closer. Bing suddenly shot forward and snatched up the weapon in his mouth, slightly scratching Fishlegs in the process. He began to fly around the arena, forcing Fishlegs to throw down his shield before chasing after him.

“Ow! My sword! What? Give me that!” Bam and Boom joined their sibling, forcing Fishlegs into the middle of a circle. The moment he got close enough to one of them, they’d just toss the sword to the next, taunting him with their game of monkey-in-the-middle. “You guys, this isn’t the exercise.” After a few more attempts, Fishlegs slumped his shoulders and wandered toward Meatlug. At that moment, Boom threw the sword toward her, and she perfectly caught it in her mouth. “What? You too, Meatlug?” Bing jumped forward and jumped onto Fishlegs’ back, knocking him onto his stomach. “Oh dear…”

Reign let out a quick puff of air, staring intently at the twins before darting her eyes back to the Thunderdrums. This went on for several moments as she internally debated whether it was a good idea to rely on two people just as chaotic as the dragons they were attempting to train to actually get something done. She seemed hesitant, but caved anyways, acknowledging that we were running out of options.

“Ruff, Tuff, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… you give it a shot.” Excited looks immediately crossed the twins’ faces. “I’ve made a horrible mistake…”

“You’re doing your best.” Without even thinking about it, I reached back and patted her hand.

The twins stood before the three Thunderdrums, who looked up at them with what almost appeared to be curiosity. The pair didn’t do anything for a while, and I felt Reign intake some air to start yelling, until Tuffnut finally opened his mouth.

“Okay, here we go. Repeat after me.” He let out a violent, shattering belch. Surprisingly, the Thunderdrums managed to replicate the sound without causing any destruction. Unfortunately, this wasn’t what we were going for, exactly. This somehow launched all of them into just a cannon of burping, and I decided to step in before Reign lost her mind.

“Hey, uh, guys?” I interrupted, forcing them to stop for a moment. “Not to be a wet blanket, but, uh… how is this helping anything?”

“How is this hurting?” Ruff jumped out in front of the Thunderdrums, getting just a little too close and causing them to fire out a sonic boom. The twins were blown back into Snotlout, who had just finished setting up his target practice again, dismantling all his hard work.

Out of options, I glanced at Reign and raised an eyebrow. She remained oblivious to my stare for a moment, before looking down at me and shaking her head.

“Oh, no. I’ve made a fool of myself on many occasions, but this is not going to be one of them. Besides,” she shrugged, “we’ve already seen there’s nothing Shriek can do to get them to calm down. It’d be a wasted effort.”

We all shoved our hands back over our ears as Bing, Bam, and Boom began to circle and make loud, obnoxious noises once again. They’d grown restless, and were clearly fed up with our attempts at training them, but we couldn’t give up just yet.

“Oh, not so fast, fellas. We still have a few more exercises to work on.” I spoke as though attempting to reason with them would somehow work. Thunderdrums were hard of hearing anyways, so it’s not like they could really understand what I was saying.

Toothless growled at the trio as they passed by again.

“I know, pal. The word ‘excruciating’ comes to mind.” Despite everything, the twins still chased after the dragons and attempted to pin them down, missing and falling right onto the hard stone every time.

They each did another lap, then miraculously, landed in a perfect line and fell mostly silent, only letting out a few purrs and chitters. Reign and I stared at them in awe, not daring to step too close and mess things up.

“Huh. Would you look at that! We’re finally getting through to them.” The reason they stopped became clear as a certain blue Thunderdrum took purposeful steps into the Academy. “Well, someone is.” I approached him and smiled, glad we finally had a way to train them. “Okay, Thornado. How about a little follow the leader?”

I motioned my finger in a circle toward the sky, indicating for him to take off and fly tight circles. Sure enough, Bing, Bam, and Boom followed closely behind, not daring to fall out of formation and face the consequences.

“That was promising, eh, bud?” Toothless purred, agreeing with me.

“Ah, I hardly recognize them,” Astrid marveled, staring down at our little trio. Tuffnut let out a gasp as the twins watched them behave perfectly.

“What did you do?” he demanded. “You’ve ruined them. Oh, Lloyd! I’m so sorry, Darren.”

“Thornado? Thornado!” We all turned our heads as my dad made his way into the Academy, searching for his dragon. Clearly, Thornado had snuck away when my dad wasn’t looking to come tend to the Thunderdrums. “Come, now. We have chiefing to do.”

Thornado looked down at Bing, Bam, and Boom again before reluctantly making his way over to his rider. The three little ones followed him with their gazes, tails wagging excitedly as though they were all about to embark together.

“Hmm. That’s an improvement. Well done, Hiccup.” My dad turned to walk away, taking our best resource with him.

“Well, uh, no Dad, it’s-it’s actually—“ I turned back to the Thunderdrums and looked at them, dread settling into the pit of my stomach. “Oh, for the love of Thor.” The dragons jumped up and started to follow after Thornado. “Tuff lock the gate!”

“Got it!”

His arm hovered in midair, waiting until Bing, Bam, and Boom had fully passed through. Frustrated, I growled and stared him down.

“What? Okay, a little clarity next time would help.” I shook my head and jumped up on Toothless, speeding after our runaway Thunderdrums. They let out their triumphant boom, then dove straight for the village.

“Oh, come on…”

_“Hiccup!”_ I turned my head to see my dad on Thornado, hovering nearby. His face was bright red as he stared me down. “I thought you had them under control.”

“Well, I did, sort of, but… not at all,” I admitted. “Okay, I really didn’t.” One of the Thunderdrums roared in my dad’s face.

“Will these dragons _ever_ quiet down?”

“Sure!” Fishlegs shouted, approaching on Meatlug with his ears covered. “Once they find their grown-up voice.”

“And how long will that take?”

“Uh, shouldn’t be more than a couple of… years…” My dad’s scowl deepened, and I immediately got the message.

“Um, yes.”

Toothless and I took off to chase down the dragons, following them through the village. The twins popped up in front of their path and attempted to get them to stop, but instead of reaching for them and trying to get them to head back to the Academy, they just hovered there. Huffing, Toothless and I flew right into the middle of them, causing them to scatter. They scattered off in all directions and started to cause mischief, until my dad and Thornado came up over the hill and let out a sonic boom, forcing the three of them onto the ground. I landed behind them, nervous as my dad’s eyes moved up to stare me down.

“Remember how I said you wouldn’t be sorry?”

“This is outrageous,” someone shouted behind us. Slowly, I turned back to face him.

“Uh… yes.”

“Well, I’m officially sorry. You need to find those dragons a new home, son. The Thunderdrums _have to go._ ”

For a second, I wanted to try and change his mind. But after one glance down at the chittering dragons, I reluctantly had to admit he was right. They were causing more problems than offering solutions, and all they’d done so far was destroy. We could find them a better home where they could be as loud as they wanted for as long as they wanted, and the other dragons could put them in their place better than we could. So, reluctantly, we managed to wrangle up Bing, Bam, and Boom and take them to Dragon Island. They seemed pretty happy at first, chittering and bouncing around as though nothing had changed.

“Okay,” I sighed, feeling a sense of relief start to come over me. “Bing, Bam, and Boom, welcome to your new home: Dragon Island!” They just blinked at me. “You’re gonna love it here. Plenty of room, lots of new dragons to annoy—I- I mean meet. You know, here you can be as loud as you want. It’ll be great.”

All of a sudden, they started to growl sadly, looking at me as though they were begging us not to do this. I really didn’t want to give up on them, but… they were too much of a danger to Berk to keep them around.

“Whoa. This is kind of sad…” Ruffnut muttered.

“Yeah. Reminds me of the time our parents took Sam, our pet Yak, out to that farm to live.”

“Yeah, I would’ve cried all night… except for those delicious Yak steaks we had for dinner!” Reign glanced at me, slightly slack-jawed. She didn’t seem to believe the twins could get any more dim-witted.

“Oh, nothing better. And to eat them in those soft Yak jackets!”

“Okay, great.” Snotlout and Hookfang started to back away, clearly completely uninterested. “Check you later.” The rest of us followed behind him, leaving Bing, Bam, and Boom on Dragon Island.

“They’ll be happy there,” I tried to reassure myself. “They’ll love it.”

“What’s not to love? It’s an island full of dragons!” I smiled at Fishlegs’ attempts to clear my mind.

“And, I mean, we can come visit them, right?”

“Sure, but they won’t be there?” I looked up at the twins in confusion.

“Why not?”

“Because they’re right behind you.”

Sure enough, when I turned around, I was greeted with the sight of three colorful Thunderdrums barreling straight toward us. They must have left just a second after we did to be that close. How they managed to stay quiet was what really baffled me.

“Oh, great. What do we do now?”

“I’ll tell you what we do: we ditch ‘em.” Snotlout pushed Hookfang ahead of the group, thinking he could maybe be fast enough for the trio of dragons not to catch up. He lost them for a split second when he ducked into a cave, but they found him the moment he emerged again, knocking him off Hookfang’s back and toward the water. I expected Hookfang to dive and catch his rider, but instead, he sort of just hovered there.

“Uh, Hookfang?” He suddenly seemed to realize Snotlout was no longer on his back, and flew down to pick up Snotlout before he fell into the water.

“Wow,” Reign laughed. “That was fun. Let’s try Snotlout’s plan again.” I sighed and looked over at Bing, Bam, and Boom again, hovering in the air and looking at me with big eyes. We had to find a way to keep them on the island, they couldn’t just come with us. Sighing, I glanced at Reign for ideas. She thought things over for a moment, then made Shriek dive into the water and open her mouth. Shriek caught quite a few fish, and Reign motioned her head for me to follow. Bing, Bam, and Boom came right along with me, and thankfully, took the bait of the fish Reign and Shriek had caught.

“I think this might be our chance to go,” I whispered to her.

“Yeah. And, I say we take the long way home this time, so they don’t follow us.”

Slowly, the two of us crept back toward our dragons and climbed on, heading back to Berk with the rest of the group. The moment we landed, my dad marched over to us, arms resting firmly on his hips as he stared down at us. His eyes flickered toward Thornado, and when we followed his gaze, we saw Bing, Bam, and Boom excitedly bouncing back and forth and making little noises. I stared at them in disbelief, unable to fathom how they could’ve gotten back here without us leading them.

“I just—are you—how?” I threw my arms up in exasperation.

“Never mind. It looks like Thornado and I are gonna have to give you dragon training _geniuses_ a hand.”

I looked down at Toothless and shrugged, and decided to let my dad lead things. His idea seemed to involve just going on a flight and allowing Thornado to correct Bing, Bam, and Boom when necessary. I was wary at first, but agreed to allow my dad to try. For safety’s sake, Reign and I came with him, never trailing too far behind.

“I hope this works,” I thought aloud.

“Thornado has a way with them. It will work.” At that moment, Boom tried to fly off in another direction, but Thornado roared at him and forced him to fall back in line. “Attaboy, Thornado! Sometimes you need to show teenagers a little tough love.” He cast a purposeful glance back in our direction. “That’s right. I said it.”

“Oh, gods,” I groaned, rolling my eyes. Thornado managed to wrangle them back to Dragon Island, and this time, something seemed different. They almost appeared to settle in this time. I hopped off of Toothless and stood in front of them, planting my feet firmly. “Okay, so… this is it. Listen, guys, Berk just isn’t the island for you. There’s too many Vikings, and not enough placed for you to play.” They whimpered sadly. “No, no, no, no, stop making that whimper sound. Don’t make this harder than it already is.”

“Let’s let Thornado have a word with them.”

My dad moved Thornado into the middle of the trio. They gathered around him and leaned up, almost as though they were affectionate children with their father. Reign came over and placed a hand on mine as we watched the scene unfold. Of course, Thornado almost immediately roared to get them to stay back, and my dad turned him around to get ready and head back to Berk.

“Well, that’s done. Put _that_ in the Book of Dragons. Thornado, back to Berk.” Reign and I followed after him, but I couldn’t help myself. I looked down at the little dragons as the land they’d been placed on faded further and further into the distance. “Don’t look back, son. Remember, tough love.” I noticed Reign was looking at me with a strange sort of smile.

“What?” She shook her head.

“If you become a dad, you’re never gonna be able to say no to your kids, aren’t you?”

Thornado suddenly began to growl restlessly, then jerked around and started to fly back toward the island, nearly throwing my dad off in the process. I glanced back to see a group of adult dragons closing in on the baby Thunderdrums. They looked up at them with wide eyes, cornered against a rock and defenseless.

“Looks like they might not be welcome on Dragon Island, either.” An idea suddenly popped into my head. “Maybe that’s why we found them out on a sea stack in the first place.”

“They were probably chased there,” Reign finished.

“Well, I guess we’re not going to let any wild dragons bully our boys, are we?” I turned to my dad with a smirk.

“Tough love, huh?” I teased.

Without saying another word, my dad steered Thornado down onto Dragon Island, standing firm in front of Bing, Bam, and Boom. Reign nodded at me, then made Shriek do the same, creating a wall to protect the little dragons. The hostile dragons looked down at them hungrily, and began to advance toward the two of them.

“Okay, bud. Light ‘em up!” Toothless shot out a plasma blast to knock back one of the dragons, and Shriek roared in the face of a Deadly Nadder that loomed over us, scaring it off. She winked at me, then took off to deal with the rest of the dragons. A Zippleback glowered down at the trio, but before they could advance, Thornado blasted it back with a powerful sonic boom. Unfortunately, that only took care of them for a moment. The dragons all got back on their feet and started to close in again. I looked around, trying to find some sort of way out of this, when my dad’s shout cut through the tension.

“Hiccup!” I noticed his and Reign’s hands were clapped over their ears, so I did the same. A split second later, all five of the Thunderdrums let out their most powerful sonic booms and flew in circles, throwing all of the dragons against rocks and rendering them useless. Once the intense sound faded, I removed my hands from my ears and let out a sigh of relief.

“Sure taught those wild dragons a lesson.”

“Yeah… this time.” Reign pointed toward the cliffs, bringing that same group of dragons to our attention. They glared down, ready to strike again when Bing, Bam, and Boom were left defenseless.

“What are we gonna do with these guys? We can’t take them with us, but we can’t leave them here.” 

A sad look crossed my dad’s face as he watched Bing, Bam, and Boom nuzzle Thornado. He sat in a quiet contemplation for a few moments, then hopped off the back of his Thunderdrum and leaned down. Much to my surprise, he undid Thornado’s saddle and threw it down.

“Dad? Are you… okay?” This seemed so unlike him. He always acted like he couldn’t do anything without Thornado, so to do this… it didn’t feel right.

“Yes, son,” he answered, completely calm. “I think we both know what we have to do, don’t we, Thornado?”

“Dad, what are you doing?” I wasn’t so sure he understood the gravity of this.

“Setting Thronado free—what any chief would do in this situation… or any father.” Realization struck Reign and I, and I heard her let out a quiet, drawn out ‘oh’. “These boys won’t survive without you,” he said to his former dragon. “Right now, they need you more than I do. Don’t worry, I understand. I’d do the same thing. Doesn’t mean I won’t miss you.” He leaned down and pressed his hand between Thornado’s nostrils, wishing him goodbye. “Take care of your new family.”

With that, my dad stood and climbed onto the back of Toothless, then we headed off. For a moment, the three of us sat in a sad silence, mulling over and coming to grips with what had just happened.

“Hey, Dad?” He hummed in acknowledgement. “You did the right thing.” I felt my dad turn around, looking back on the family we were leaving behind.

“Goodbye, old friend.”

Before we sped toward home, I heard the sound of Thornado’s roar, sending us off with an emotional goodbye.


	39. (Reign)

My fingers tensed against Shriek's scales, watching the ground below us with an intense focus, waiting for something to happen. My fellow riders hovered around me, trying their best to keep their dragons in the air. At any moment, we could be under attack, and we'd need to be able to scatter at a moment's notice. The closer we got, the more clear the figures on the ground became.

Then, from the wooden structures, boulders shot up in our direction, twirling in the air as they barreled toward us.

"Ambush!" Fishlegs cried, alerting those who couldn't see. 

"Plasma blast!" Hiccup ordered. Toothless shot out single blast of purple energy, destroying the oncoming projectile. Meatlug caught the second one in her mouth and clamped down, and Shriek let out a sonic boom to shatter the last one to little pieces. We were expecting the next wave immediately after, but it took a few extra seconds, causing Hiccup and I to glace at each other with furrowed brows.

Suddenly, the next wave shot up unexpectedly, nearly striking the twins on their Zippleback.

"Whoa!" Ruff cried as Barf and Belch spun their riders upside-down. "That thing almost took my head off!"

"It did? Gobber, do it again!" Tuff called down. The projectiles began to come faster than we could handle them, and after Hiccup ducked to dodge an incoming boulder, he gave the order.

"Fall back, everyone! There's too many of them."

I nodded, and turned Shriek around and started to fly back toward the retreat point. Most of the rest of us started to follow, but of course, one person always had to break the ranks. Snotlout continued to hover in the place he'd been, looking down and Gobber and the rest of the villagers we'd gotten to help with the training exercise.

"You fall back! I'm going in to finish this!" Recklessly, he dove down toward the people on the ground.

"Snotlout, that is not the exercise!" Hiccup cried, trying to bring Snotlout back to us. "Wait!" 

Gobber hit the dirt as Snotlout swooped in over his head, nearly knocking him over with Hookfang's claws. He fired a shot at one of the catapults, and I shook my head before turning back around. Now, Gobber would have to make a new one, which was just inconvenient. But, thankfully, it looked like Snotlout wasn't going to head back in, so no further destruction could ensue.

My mistake. I heard Hiccup and Toothless quickly turned, and the second my head snapped around, a boulder struck my body and sent me tumbling from Shriek. Adrenaline pumped through me as my arms flailed in the air, attempting to grasp at something that wasn't actually there. My screams ripped up my throat the closer I got to the ground, as though they'd somehow cushion my fall. I saw Hiccup and Toothless dive toward me, and just before I struck the ground, I felt an arm grab my waist, then the world went black.

I opened my eyes to see Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs hovering over me, varying degrees of concern written on their faces. Hiccup's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his skull. Slowly, I managed to sit up, disoriented with a throbbing pain in my head.

"Ugh. What... what happened." Hiccup kneeled down and placed a hand on my arm, his expression now intense.

Before he could explain, Snotlout and Hookfang did a loop overhead, and it all came back to me. When Snotlout hit the catapult, it most likely activated the trigger and fired the boulder in my direction. Hiccup hadn't been able to warn me in time, and I fell to the ground. But I think Hiccup had caught me before I actually struck the dirt.

"That's right! That's how Snotlout retreats!" The pair landed and strode in our direction, confident and cocky. "He doesn't. Click, click, boom!" Hiccup's expression contorted, into a sort of anger I'd never seen before. "What? Why are you all looking at me? I mean, listen, I know why you're all _looking_ at me." He attempted to flex his biceps, but there wasn't much there. "What? It's Hiccup's stupid exercise."

"You have _no idea_ what you did, do you?" he shouted.

"Yeah. Hookfang and I made the coolest trick shot ever." His dragon squawked in agreement.

"You almost got Reign killed!" Hiccup got up from my side and stormed over to Snotlout, getting close to his face.

"Come on, she's fine. Look at her." Fishlegs attempted to help me stand, but I stumbled back a bit. But his words struck something in me, and an anger caused me to stand up straight.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." I lunged forward, attempting to punch him, but Hiccup grabbed my waist and managed to hold me back.

"Okay, all right, easy there, Reign."

"I'm gonna kill you!" With a huff, I realized Hiccup wouldn't let me get anywhere near Snotlout, and pushed away. The moment he let go of me, he returned to glaring at Snotlout.

"That's it, I'm tired of this."

" _I'm_ tired of this!" Snotlout blinked at Hiccup, confused. "What are _you_ tired of?"

"You always have to do things your way," Hiccup clarified. 

"Yeah, well, guess what? I look out for number one." In response, Hookfang spat out a quick flame, forcing Hiccup and Snotlout to duck so they wouldn't get burnt. "And one-a."

"How can we rely on you if you don't do what we ask?"

"What are you saying, Hiccup?"

"I'm saying, until further notice, you're suspended from the Academy."

Everyone's eyes went wide, and they looked over in Hiccup and Snotlout's direction. None of us thought Hiccup would actually do something like that, and yet... here we were. A part of me felt... wrong, knowing Hiccup had done this because of something that happened to me. But at the same time, he'd had it coming.

"What?"

"You're grounded."

"You can't ground me!" Snotlout argued. "You're not my dad."

"Yes, I can."

"Oh, really?" Snotlout leaned back, feeling the weight of Hiccup's glare. "Watch!"

With the attitude of a five-year-old, Snotlout stormed over to Hookfang, hopped up on him, and flew away, completely leaving the rest of us behind. I sighed and leaned against Shriek, meeting eyes with Hiccup.

"Ground this, dragon boy!" Snotlout cried as he flew away.

"Uh, am I wrong in thinking 'grounded' means staying on the ground? That looks an awful lot like, uh..." Tuff flapped his arms as though they were wings. "Flying."

"You didn't have to do that for me, Hiccup," I sighed, moving closer to him. He looked at the ground a moment before turning around.

"If we can't count on him during training, how can we possibly count on him the next time we run into Dagur?" The mention of my brother's name caused my face to contort bitterly. "Oh, uh--"

"Don't even start to apologize." I held my hand up, trying to get him to stop in his tracks. "You shouldn't apologize for saying a name. That makes no sense." He continued to stare at me for a moment, then reached out and started to examine the arm that had been struck.

"Are you sure nothing's broken? You don't feel anything off?" I chuckled and pushed his hand away.

"I promise you I'm fine. You caught me before I could hit the ground, right?" He nodded. "So then don't worry. If anything, I need to be alert. One of these days, you're not gonna be able to just swoop in and save me."

"Well, that's not true." I rolled my eyes and playfully slugged his arm.

"I've gotta be able to look out for myself as much as you do, and vice versa." I made my way over to Shriek and swung my leg up over her side. "Come on, we should all get back to the Academy." Hiccup climbed on Toothless and faced all of us.

"You take them back. I'm going to go out and look of Snotlout. He couldn't have gotten far."

I nodded and did as told, bringing the others back toward the Academy. Fishlegs and Astrid headed back home for a while, while the twins and I remained at the Academy. I didn't bother to watch them, knowing they couldn't do much damage in here. Nearly an hour passed before Hiccup came back.

"So, let me guess: Snotlout is still out flying?" 

"You didn't hear it from us." Hiccup hopped down, and the two of us finally looked over at what they were doing. Leaving them on their own proved to be a mistake. In the short amount of time, they'd started putting things up in Hookfang's pen.

"And what are you two doing?"

"Well, we figured with Snotlout kicked out of the Academy, and our pen next to his, we could knock out a wall, create kind of a better flow, feng shui-- obviously, in remembrance of Snotlout. He will be forgotten-- sorry, will _not_ be forgotten."

"Whoa, whoa, I did not kick him out of the Academy!" Hiccup corrected. "He's just on temporary suspension."

"Well, what choice do you have, after his flagrant disregard for your leadership? I mean, he deserves to have his pen... merged with another pen!"

"Yep. Your only remaining choice is total expulsion. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing the respect of the other riders." I stared, at them, dumbfounded, then approached Hiccup.

"Wow. They actually have a point."

"And we're not just saying that because we plan on putting curtains right here." Ruff gestured to the right wall. Tuff held up a piece of purple fabric.

"I'm good with fabrics. Who knew? I also do some needlepoint." Hiccup jumped forward and snatched the fabric out of Tuff's hands.

"No one is knocking anything down. I will talk to Snotlout when he comes back." I sighed and grabbed the soft, purple fabric from Hiccup, tossing it onto the ground.

"You don't know when that's going to be, though."

"But he'll come back eventually." I shrugged and nodded, acknowledging he had a point. "I--I'm gonna head home for a little while." He jumped up on Toothless, but before he could fly away, I called out.

"We're still on for tonight?" The hardened look on his face softened, and he smiled at me. 

"Of course."

I couldn't fight the giddy smile on my face as I headed home myself. Hiccup and I had managed to be together for a year, and while we didn't want to make too big of a deal about it, that sort of thing always constituted a date. And I figured maybe I could look a little nicer. I went through the process of getting clean, but instead of tying my hair up like usual, I hesitantly left it down. It dried in a large, uncontrollable mass of curls. I'd just started the last steps in getting ready, when a commotion started to rustle outside. Curious, I headed out into the masses. 

Hookfang landed in the center of the village, his rider obscured by the light behind him. But the taller, bulkier frame told me it wasn't Snotlout. He was, however, in his arms. The figure set Snotlout down, who remained unmoving once on the dirt.

"Is that Snotlout?" one woman asked.

"Is he dead?" Everyone went silent for a moment, as though grieving a loss they didn't know whether it had happened or not yet. Then, out of nowhere, they erupted into cheers. "Viking funeral! Hey, bring out your dead Vikings!" My eyes went wide as my eyebrows flew up. How could people get excited about a funeral? And, did that man just imply there were corpses just laying around in the village?

Thankfully, Snotlout sat up, holding his head.

"No..." he muttered. "No funeral." People groaned in disappointment.

"Okay, okay, what's going on here?" I watched as Hiccup and Chief Stoick fought their way through the crowd, trying to get closer to the scene. "Who in the--"

They stopped short in front of Snotlout, but that wasn't the reason they hesitated. My eyes followed their gaze, and I gasped. Beside Hookfang, the light around the figure finally faded, and left standing there was the confident figure of none other than Alvin the Treacherous. In all honesty, I was more surprised he was alive, over the fact he was here on Berk and had, implicitly, rescued Snotlout. 

Hiccup's eyes rested on me, and he made his way over.

"Putting things on hold?" I asked as I watched two villagers seize Alvin and lead him toward the Great Hall.

"Unfortunately, it looks that way." Everyone followed Chief Stoick and Gobber, flooding in to watch what I assume would be the trial of Alvin.

"We really should be used to putting things on hold at this point." He sighed and moved a chunk of my hair from my face.

"Something tells me we're gonna have to do that a lot more in the future." My stomach fluttered as he headed toward the Great Hall.

'The future'? For a reason I couldn't explain, I liked the sound of that.

I quickly climbed up the steps to the Great Hall, arriving just in time to hear Gobber read off all the charges. He'd be thrown in a cell for sure, but we had to consider the fact he had saved Snotlout and brought him back here, free of demands.

"Alvin the Treacherous, you are hereby charged with the following crimes: treachery, attempted treachery, premeditated treachery, conspiracy to commit treachery, and-- well, you get the idea." I leaned over to Hiccup, not tearing my eyes from the scene. People shouted and jeered in Alvin's direction.

"How can you be charged for both attempted treachery and _actual_ treachery?" When I didn't hear a response, I looked over to see him shrug his shoulders. 

"Settle down, everyone." Chief Stoick didn't even have to shout. The people just quieted down at the gesture of his arms. Once the crowd fell silent, he focused his eyes on Alvin. "Alvin the Treacherous, you will be remanded to our jail until a proper sentence can be handed down."

"Is this how you treat a man that saved a valuable life?" Alvin demanded, staring daggers up at the three of us.

"'Valuable life?'"

"Snotlout?" I rolled my eyes at the twins.

"I know you, Alvin." Chief Stoick stepped closer to Alvin. "You didn't do this for Snotlout. You did it for yourself.”

“What could I possibly have to gain from coming here? I did it for us both, Stoick. Now, I have a proposition for you.”

“Not interested.” With that, Chief Stoick turned away from Alvin and headed back toward his original position, coldly observing the scene. “That’s it, everyone. Go home.”

“Hiccup, Reign!” We turned our heads to see Astrid and Fishlegs running toward us. “Snotlout just woke up. And apparently, Alvin wasn’t the only big, nasty creature on that island.”

“The Screaming Death… it’s closing in on Berk.” I glanced at Hiccup, my eyes widening slightly.

“Well, that’s fantastic news,” Hiccup deadpanned. He stopped and took a deep breath, then gestured for us to follow him. “Come on.”

We all jumped up on our dragons and headed toward the Academy, beginning the practice drills for the Screaming Death. The four of us flew in a circle and fired at a target over and over again. The three of them worked on their precision, while I tried to see how loud I could get Shriek to scream. Maybe she could temporarily disorient the thing.

“Come on, you guys. Focus. We need to figure out a way to stop the Screaming Death from reaching Berk.”

As we made another round, Snotlout flew into the Academy, causing Fishlegs and Meatlug to crash into him and fall onto the stone. As usual, he exercised a disregard for the training going on.

“Hey everyone! Did you miss me? Of course you did.” Hiccup, Astrid, and I landed, glaring at Snotlout. Hiccup hopped off Toothless, but never, for a moment, dropped his hostile demeanor. I’d never seen him before, nor did I think he could ever be like this.

“Snotlout, I’m very happy you’re okay.” 

“Ha. I’m more than okay.” He glanced at Astrid, who rolled her eyes. 

“You broke the rules again, and you almost got yourself killed in the process.”

“So?”

“ _So_ you’re still suspended.”

“What?” Snotlout seemed outraged by the thought he wasn’t now considered a hero. “I found the Screaming Death, _and_ I captured Alvin the Treacherous.”

“Weren’t you unconscious when you ‘captured’ him?” Astrid challenged.

“Unconscious like a fox.” I furrowed my brow, wildly confused.

“How does that make sense?” I muttered.

“Look, nothing’s changed. You’re still suspended, I’m sorry. Come on, Hookfang.” Hiccup led him into his pen and locked him up, making sure to slide the bar into place for an extra layer of protection. I knew he didn’t like this, but it was the only way to get Snotlout to obey.

“You can’t do this, Hiccup!” Snotlout protested. “You can’t take away my dragon!”

Hiccup shook his head, but refused to budge. We got on our dragons without another word and headed back toward our homes. The sun had begun to set, and Hiccup and I finally decided things had died down enough to finally go out. We flew on our dragons to the cove where he’d first introduced me to Toothless, trying our best to forget about the excitement of the day. We laughed and held each other, enjoying the others’ company for a while, before the squawk of a Nadder sounded above us, and we watched Astrid land.

“Hiccup, Reign, I’m so sorry.” She shifted her gaze to just Hiccup. “Alvin asked to see you.”

We glanced at each other curiously, but I knew he had to go. 

“Just be careful.” I warned, squeezing his arm.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I nodded, and hesitantly, he climbed on Toothless and headed toward the jail. Astrid turned to me with wide eyes.

“I really am sorry I had to interrupt, Reign.” I waved my hand dismissively.

“It’s fine. It’s getting late, anyways. Let’s head back.”

Once Astrid and I returned from the cove, we locked up Stormfly and Shriek for the night, then settled in for dinner. The rest evening was peaceful, filled with the light chatter of sisters spending time together. Strange how I could do nearly the same thing, but the dynamic was so different when you just switched the person you were with.

“I’ve never seen you with your hair down,” Astrid observed, pointing her fork at me.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” I self-consciously reached up and patted some of the mop. “I actually kind of forgot it wasn’t tied up.” 

“It’s a huge mass,” she laughed, “but I think it looks good.”

The serenity didn’t last long, however, when a loud, heart-stopping horn cut through the silence of the village.

“Oh, my gods. That’s the warning signal.” I jumped up and reached for my sword and shield before the two of us rushed out the door.

“You go find Hiccup. I’ll help check out what’s going on.”

I nodded and sprinted toward Hiccup’s home. He burst through the door and met me in the middle. I noticed some of his brown hair was matted and knotted, indicating he’d been asleep. I held back my urge to laugh, knowing we had more pressing issues.

“Reign, what’s going on?”

“I have no idea. I just got out here.”

I watched as a group of people rushed past us, and among them ran Astrid. She spotted Hiccup and I off to the side, still as confused as before, and broke away to come closer to us.

“It’s Dagur. He was spotted by the Academy.”

My blood ran cold for a split second, before being replaced by anger. My hands balled into tight fists, and I turned on my heel, sprinting toward the Academy. I could finish things with my brother, here and now. He made the mistake of bringing the fight here to us, to _me_. I ran all the way to the Academy, finding the dragons angrily roaring and squawking at each other, circling something. I pressed my hands against the bars of the gate, trying to figure out what was going on. The others caught up to me soon after, and eventually, Hiccup and Toothless landed, having done a scan from above.

“Dagur put Dragon Root in the arena so the dragons will attack each other,” he informed us. Snotlout suddenly pushed through the rest of us, panting slightly.

“Hiccup! I need to tell you something.”

“Snotlout, not now,” he snapped

“But, it’s important!”

“I said not now.” He focused his gaze on Fishlegs and Meatlug. “All right, Fishlegs, this is all you. Toothless and I can’t go in there because he’ll be affected by the Root. You and Meatlug have to fly in and get that root out of there, while the others distract their dragons.”

“You hear that, girl?” Fishlegs leaned down to look Meatlug in the eyes, a worried expression on his face. “It’s up to us.” I was about to rush in, when Hiccup reached out and stopped me.

“I need you to help me look for Dagur.”

I nodded and climbed on the back of Toothless with him. We took to the sky, and while Hiccup kept an eye on our friends in the arena, I darted my eyes around in an attempt to spot my brother. There was no sight of him by the time Meatlug and Fishlegs got the Dragon Root, but before they could get out of there, the gate slammed shut. Hiccup and I glanced at each other and landed Toothless quickly, spotting two Berserker guards standing by the gate. My eyes narrowed as I slid off, drawing my sword and approaching them.

“Open that door right now, or—“

“Or what?”

My eyes flickered up to see my brother, surrounded by men with crossbows aimed right at me. He crossed his arms with a satisfied smirk, thinking he’d cornered us, but I wasn’t going to let him win, no matter what it took.

“Dagur, what do you want?” Hiccup shouted.

“What I’ve always wanted: the Night Fury. Hand him over, and we leave peacefully. That’s your choice—your dragon, or your friends. Oh, isn’t this exciting! What will he choose, ladies and gentlemen?” Hiccup and I looked into the arena, seeing our friends growing more and more weary by the moment. “So, Hiccup, what’s your answer?”

“The answer is, we’ll run you through and open the gate ourselves.”

A relieved smile crossed my face as my eyes darted over to the source of the voice, seeing Chief Stoick and several other Vikings standing, armed and ready to fight. This was my chance, to cut Dagur down to size once and for all. Hiccup glanced at me, and I nodded before I rushed up to face my brother.

He stared at me with a smirk, then drew his weapon, ready to attack me. But before either of us could take a swing, a figure jumped over and landed between us. I stared at the tall, lumbering form of Alvin the Treacherous, facing down Dagur.

“You!” Dagur seemed just as shocked as I had been he was alive.

“Yeah, me. I don’t go down so easily.”

“Alvin!” From behind me, Chief Stoick tossed a sword into Alvin’s hand, properly arming him. “Well, don’t just stand there.” He looked down at me.

“You got ‘im?” I smirked and nodded.

“I’ve got him.”

Alvin ran off to deal with the Berserker and Outcast soldiers, leaving me with my brother again. We wasted no more time, running at each other and swinging our weapons. His large bludgeon struck my shield, allowing me to throw it back toward him and swing my sword. I nicked his arm, but that only irritated him more. His swings became more forceful and erratic, until the point I couldn’t fend them off anymore.

The last thing I remembered was someone grabbing me by my hair from behind me, then Dagur bringing his weapon down near my head and losing consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be Continued...


	40. (Hiccup)

_The gate slammed shut in front of the dragons, allowing Fishlegs and Meatlug to escape with the Dragon Root. The Vikings had dealt with Dagur’s men, and it looked like things were finally wrapping up around here. This wouldn’t be the final battle with Dagur, for sure, but it was a step in the right direction._

_“Hiccup!” Gobber called down. Toothless flew up to the platform where he was standing, and when I followed his gaze, I gasped. Dagur and Savage stood above us, swords drawn and held in front of my father. Reign’s unconscious figure laid limp, slung over Dagur’s shoulder as though she weighed nothing._

_“Dad! Reign!” I cried, as though I could somehow wake her up and make her fight back._

_“Nobody make a move,” he warned._

_“Dagur…” Alvin growled._

_“We’ll be leaving now, and if I see one dragon following us, rider or not, you’re going to be looking for a new chief, and I’ll be keeping my sister.” My hands tightened into fists on Toothless’ back. “We’ll be in touch!” Dagur called as he brought his two hostages to his ship._

_Watching them taken away like that made me completely disregard Dagur’s warning. If he couldn’t see us coming, he wouldn’t be able to fight back before I rescued my dad and Reign and came back to Berk._

_“Okay, we take the south pass, cut them off at the beach, and smash their boats before they even—“_

_“Don’t do it, boy,” Alvin cautioned. “You back a man like that into a corner, and you may not like the outcome.”_

_“Especially when that man travels with a hundred ship armada,” Gobber added._

_“But, I have to save my father, and my girlfriend!”_

_“Dagur is not gonna hurt either of ‘em… yet. They’re not what he wants.”_

_“He’s right.”_

_“You want me to trust_ him _?” I gestured my arm out to Alvin, trying to bring Gobber to his senses._

_“If there’s one thing Alvin knows, Hiccup, it’s treachery.”_

_My eyes darted to the ground, realizing he had a good point. But I needed a way to bring them back to Berk without giving up Toothless. No way would I ever do that. The other riders locked up Alvin for good measure, and I got ready to formulate a plan. As I did, I watched the armada leave Berk’s shore._

_“Don’t worry Dad, Reign. We’re gonna get you back… no matter what it takes.”_

Astrid led me to the Great Hall, having been summoned by Gobber. The moment she opened , the door, loud shouts and jeers flooded out, indistinguishable from each other. I rolled my eyes and spotted the twins in the crowd, making my way over to them.

“What is going on?” I demanded.

“No idea. But everyone’s shouting, and I’m totally into that!” Ruff cackled, and the two of them fed back into the group.

“We’re so angry!” she screamed.

“Everybody shake your fists, and look to the sky!” Weirdly enough, the crowd followed Tuff’s instructions, throwing their fists into the air.

“Really not helping, Tuff.”

Gobber managed to push his way through and approached Astrid and I, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Everyone settle down!” he cried. “Hiccup will answer all your questions!” Before I could protest, he dragged me to the front of the room and set me to face the crowd.

“Why him?” I heard Snotlout ask from the crowd.

“He’s the acting chief. _That’s_ why.” He leaned down to me and whispered, “they’re all yours’” before hobbling away.

“What are we gonna do?” someone shouted at me.

“Where’s Stoick?”

“When do we start yelling again?”

Taking that as their cue, people started shouting again. My eyes darted around, trying to compose myself. I didn’t have Reign here to help me get the people to calm down and make decisions. I had to do it own my own this time.

“Good questions… mostly. Uh… as you know, Berk is no stranger to hard times. But, the best thing is to—“

“Take arms!”

“Launch the catapults!” Snotlout stepped up to the platform, pushing me aside slightly.

“Why don’t you step aside and watch a _real_ chief in action. Hookfang.” Snotlout snapped his fingers, and Hookfang descended from the ceiling, lighting himself aflame and causing people to scream, gasp slightly, and go silent. “That’s better. Now, here’s how it’s gonna go.”

The smell of smoke began to fill the air, and when Snotlout turned around, I noticed his clothes had been lit on fire.

“You are on fire, Snotlout!” Tuff shouted, taunting him without him knowing.

“Thank you, citizen.” He inhaled deeply, and realized what Tuffnut meant. Panicked, he rushed toward the nearest water trough, and Gobber dunked him in. Astrid stood by my side as I stepped up to look out over the crowd again.

“Okay, good, so… where were we?” I turned to Astrid, looking for help. She and her sister were very similar, so I felt a lot more comfortable with her standing up here with me.

“You were about to tell them that they have nothing to worry about, and you have everything under control.” Astrid winked at me, and I managed to smile.

“A-All right, people. You have nothing to worry about, and everything is under control.” Although they fell silent at first, once they started shouting again, it was even louder than before. I looked to Astrid, lost, and she shrugged a little.

“That went much better in my head.”

I sighed. At this point, there was nothing I could do to assure them everything would work out just fine. The only thing I could do was head home, and wait for Fishlegs to come back from scouting. Toothless and I paced the floor and I started to boil some water, trying to think of some sort of plan that wouldn’t endanger my dad or Reign. I noticed his axe laying on the table, and I carefully picked it up as the door opened and Gobber came in.

“You know, Hiccup, there’s nothing easy about chiefing.” He hobbled closer to me. “You should’ve seen Stoick when he first took over. He was like a newborn yak trying to find its feet.” He removed a fish from the pot and tossed it into Toothless’ mouth.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“It’s true. In fact, there were some in this town that didn’t think he had it in him. Alvin, for one. He never shut up about it.” I shook my head and resumed pacing. “Hiccup, being chief doesn’t mean everyone’s going to agree with you. Sometimes, you have to deal with the Alvins and Snotlouts of the world.” I crossed my arms as I took a seat in my father’s chair, not meeting Gobber’s eyes.

“I feel like that’s all I do. Besides… I always thought, you know… the day I _do_ have to become chief, I’d have Reign by my side to help.” Gobber paused for a moment, most likely taking in what I had just admitted.

“They were best friends, you know.” I raised an eyebrow, sitting up a little straighter.

“Who?”

“Alvin and Stoick. They were inseparable since birth.” My eyes widened. Was he serious? That seemed impossible, given the current circumstances.

“So, what happened? What changed?” I’d asked my dad about this yesterday, but he’d refused to answer, saying it wasn’t important. Now, I might finally get an explanation.

“Everything.”

“Hiccup! Hiccup!”

Fishlegs burst through the door, waving his arm wildly. The story would have to wait. 

“Screaming… coming…!” He took in large, gasping breaths and collapsed down onto his knees.

“Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” I launched myself out of my dad’s chair and rushed over to Fishlegs’ side. “Catch your breath there, Fishlegs.” He managed to stand again and explain.

“I was on patrol with Meatlug. The Screaming Death!” He grabbed onto my shoulders. “We saw it. It’s eating its way… to Berk.” I groaned. Another problem to deal with on top of my dad and Reign. I darted out of my house to eye the waters, trying to see if I could spot it. 

“How much time to we have?” I turned to Fishlegs, eyes wide and slightly desperate.

“Not much. It was just off Dragon Island when we saw it.” I heard the whoosh and squawk of a Deadly Nadder landing, and looked to see Astrid and Stormfly. She jumped off and ran to me, holding some piece of paper.

“This came for you.” She placed it in my hands. “It’s from Dagur.”

“Great. And the hits just keep on coming.” I removed the band from the scroll and unrolled it, scanning my eyes over the words. My heart stopped for a moment as I registered what Dagur had written.

“Well, what does it say?” Astrid demanded.

“We have until tonight to deliver Toothless, or my father will—“ I couldn’t finish the sentence. Frustrated and overwhelmed, I crumpled up the paper and threw it to the side, not wanting to see the words inked onto parchment.

“It’s a trap,” Astrid warned. “You know that. If we fly anywhere near Outcast Island—“

“Listen. You guys get Snotlout and the twins. Tell them to be ready for the Screaming Death.” 

“What about your dad and Reign?”

“I’ll handle that.”

I motioned for Toothless, and I jumped on his back. We flew to the Academy, and the moment the two of us entered, Alvin pressed himself against the pen we’d locked him in.

“So, how’d the town meetin’ go?” I glared up at him, and Toothless growled. “Sounds like you had ‘em right in the palm of yer ‘and.”

“Never mind that, Alvin.” I reached over and released the locks on the cage, opening the door.

“Well, this is awkward. Do I stay, do I go?”

“Both.” He jumped back slightly at my harsh tone. “You are going to show me a way into Outcast Island. We’re going there _together_ , Alvin. We’re going to bring my father home.”

He smirked at me, and we climbed up onto Toothless, heading toward Outcast Island. We didn’t have much further to go, when Alvin finally decided to look down. The moment his gaze fell over the water, he cried out and flung himself forward to grab onto my shoulders. His weight began to press into me, causing my breath to strain slightly.

“You, uh… you mind loosening up your grip a little bit?”

“Oh, sorry. They all tend to be death grips.” Toothless swung one of his wings up and smacked Alvin on the side of his head, forcing him to loosen his hands.

“Toothless, no.” I pretended to be disappointed with him, but once the words left my mouth, leaned down and pat him affectionately. We still had some time to kill, and I never got the story on my dad and Alvin. I figured, why not ask the other party involved. “So… word on the street is, you and my father used to be best friends.”

“Yeah. That was a long time ago,” he grumbled.

“So, what changed?”

“Your father and I were young Vikings charged with defending Berk against dragon attacks. Stoick was the chief’s son, so he was in command. I was just a soldier. Sound familiar?” I sighed. 

“It does… sounds like me and Snotlout.”

“Yeah, well, anyway. There was a Monstrous Nightmare attack one night. Your father and I disagreed on how to defend the village. Then, I disobeyed orders, and, uh, there were a few, uh… injuries.” He hesitated for a moment, reminiscing. “Things were never the same after that. When Stoick became chief, it was only a matter of time before he banished me.”

My brows furrowed as Outcast Island came into view. That wouldn’t happen to Snotlout and I… right?

“Well, on that cheery note, we’ve arrived,” I announced.

“Let’s get on with it.” He started to push Toothless toward the island, but we got too close, and I had to bring him to a halt.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! We can’t just _fly_ over the island, Alvin. They’re going to be expecting us.”

“I’m well aware of that. We’re not flying _over_ the island; we’re flying under it.” I nodded for a second, then registered what he said. “Hold your breath!”

He violently shifted our weight to the side, trying to throw Toothless into the water.

“What are you doing?” I shouted, panicking.

“Dive, dragon! Dive!”

“No, Toothless!” Toothless let out a hoarse roar, strained and confused.

“I thought you were gonna trust me. Tell me the truth, boy!” I narrowed my gaze, but realized he probably knew what he was doing. This had been his island, after all.

“Do it, bud. Just do it!”

I sucked in a deep breath right before Toothless dove beneath the surface of the ocean. Alvin pointed toward an opening in the rock, and I pat Toothless to get him to swim there. Light bubbled came from the opening, indicating the surface wasn’t far behind. The moment we slipped through, Toothless started to swim up, and one by one, we emerged. Alvin stepped up onto what looked like some sort of small beach, gesturing toward a long, dark passage.

“That tunnel will take us directly to the heart of the island.”

“Wait… how do you know Dagur hasn’t found this tunnel?”

“Because I’ve got a man on the inside who assures me that it’s clean.”

Toothless and I followed him in, dim torch lights creating shadows on the wall. I could vaguely hear shrieking and shouting, and the cries of a dragon, before we rounded the corner and I groaned. Mildew held onto a bowl of fish, cowering slightly as he threw them into a cage for a… Whispering Death? Had they come from here?

“Mildew?” I shouted. “This _traitor_ is you ‘man on the inside’?”

“Well, he’s always been faithful to me,” Alvin defended, jumping in front of him to keep Toothless from attacking.

“Oh, well, there’s that warm, fuzzy feeling I was looking for,” I deadpanned. “Mildew, I have to say… never thought I’d see the day you’d be playing nanny to a nursery of dragons.”

“An interesting turn of events, to say the least.” The Whispering Death lunged forward, trying to bite Mildew’s arm off. He just managed to grab his stick, instead. “Give it!” My eyes flashed over to another cage. The Whispering Death in this one was sleeping, surrounded by eggs, which confirmed my suspicions.

“So this where all those Whispering Death eggs you planted came from.”

“His idea,” Alvin accused, pointing at Mildew. “And not a very good one, at that.”

“So… this Whispering Death laid all the eggs?” I pressed, trying to figure the whole situation out.

“Every one.”

“Which would include a large, red egg?” Mildew pondered that for a moment, thinking back.

“Odd, that one; I was wondering about it. How did it turn out?”

“Eh, big.”

Mildew merely clicked his tongue. My eyes bounced around for a few moments, then an idea popped into my head, a way to help deal with the Screaming Death once and for all. I yanked a piece of parchment and one of my charcoal pencils from my bag and scribbled an urgent message onto it, then reached for a Terrible Terror and tied it to its leg.

“What are you doing?” Alvin inquired.

“Sending a message home. That red egg turned out to be a Screaming Death. It’s been destroying whole islands looking for something, and now, it’s headed for Berk. I think I might know what it’s really looking for.”

“All right… Here’s our plan—“ Before he could finished, I cut in.

“Uh, no offense there, Alvin, but your plans… your plans are terrible. Here’s what we need to do: I’ll go up there and send out the message, then take out the guards and head to the arena. Alvin, you’ll be standing by for when the other Dragon Riders get here. When that happens, you’ll release the Whispering Death mother. Hopefully, the Screaming Death will be with them, and it’ll meet with its mother again.”

“If you say so…”

With that, Alvin showed me the way out of here, and I snuck as close to the arena as possible before releasing the Terrible Terror. A guard walked past, and I managed to press myself against the rock just in time so that he wouldn’t see me. The moment we were out of his eye line, I looked down at Toothless.

“Okay, bud. Showtime.”

I hopped up onto his back, and we made our way through the guards fairly easily. The moment we stepped foot into the arena, bolas flew at me from all angles. I managed to fight them off with my shield, but in the process, Toothless jumped around and landed in the wrong spot. My eyes flickered up, and I tried to cry out and get him to move.

“Toothless, look out!”

I was too late. Before Toothless could move, a cage fell on him, trapping him inside. He tried to ram his head against it and blast the door open, but to no avail. I tried to run to him, but three guards suddenly emerged from the doors in the arena and pointed their swords at me.

“Welcome back to Outcast Island, Hiccup.” I glared at Savage as he emerged. Not far behind him, Dagur made confident, cocky strides toward the cage that trapped Toothless, circling him with a smirk.

“You’re finally mine. All mine. First thing we’re gonna do is change that name.” I tried to lunge at Dagur from behind, but one of the guards grabbed me and yanked my shield from my hands. “It makes no sense.” He moved his hand toward the cage, causing Toothless to snap and try to bite his hand off. “I mean, look at all those teeth.” He drew his sword, causing my blood to run cold. “You’ll learn to respect me, dragon… or I’ll wear you as a hat.”

“Leave him alone, Dagur!” I begged.

“Put him with the others,” he ordered. “We’ll dispose of them later.” 

I tried to struggle as some of the guards tied me up, while a few others brought up Reign and my father. At the moment, I was more relieved they were okay, over anything else. Reign’s eyes went wide, and she tried to reach out for me, but forgot her arms were bound. My dad, meanwhile, focused on the issue at hand.

“Are the other Dragon Riders here, son?” he whispered.

“Well, not exactly,” I admitted.

“Oh! The Berk Fleet.”

“No…”

“Do you have any plan at all?”

“Uh, I do, actually.”

“Oh…” We all fell silent for a moment as my dad mulled things over in his head. “Good, good. Would you like to fill me in?”

“Uh, no, I’d just like to watch it unfold, if it’s all the same to you.” Reign managed to reach one of her legs over and kick my foot. “Ow! And what’s with you?”

“This better work,” she muttered. “I’d much rather return to Berk with you than be acting sister to the King of the Freaks for the rest of my life.” 

“I suppose that’s slightly reassuring… in a way.” Her large mop of curly hair fell around her face, nearly looking like it was about to suffocate her. “Did he hurt you? I-I mean, are you okay?”

“Don’t worry, he just tied us up. They tried to feed us, but I refused. You never know if they slipped something into it.” I nodded at her, double checking her for any scars or blood. She didn’t always tell the truth when it came to injuries.

“I have big plans for you, Mister Night Fury,” Dagur mused, getting as close to Toothless’ face as possible. “You’ll be the new symbol of the Berserkers. Every corner of the archipelago will know and fear you.”

Suddenly, one of the guards behind Dagur fell into the ground. I smirked—things were finally in motion.

“Of course, we’ll need to change all the sails, shields—I’ll need a new belt buckle. What’s that gonna cost? Well, we’ll worry about that after we burn Berk to the ground.”

The guard beside my dad fell into the ground, causing Reign to glance at me with suspicion. I winked at her, and she shook her head, not bothering to ask questions and alert Dagur.

“Hey! How about… Death Killer!” The guards behind him dropped. “You like that name, Death Killer? No? Oh, well… we’ll keep brainstorming.”

“I swear, my brother’s an idiot…” Reign grumbled. “For multiple reasons.”

Suddenly, the ground crumbled, and the Whispering Death mother emerged. Reign gawked at the massive creature, then the rest of the Whispering Deaths shot up, creating large holes in the ground that forced it to start crumbling. Alvin and Mildew rode in on two of the large dragons. The second Mildew crashed onto one of the remaining pieces of the ground, he rushed over and freed Toothless from the cage.

“Alvin, Mildew, and Whispering Deaths… _this_ was your plan?” my dad cried, seemingly appalled.

“Did not see that coming, did you?” Alvin jumped down from his Whispering Death and undid our ropes. Reign stretched her arms out a bit, smiling at the freedom for a second. However, her face quickly contorted again, and I knew she was ready to fight and end this. 

“Just like the good ol’ days!” Alvin exclaimed.

I took my shield from one of the guard’s unconscious body, then grabbed his sword and tossed it to Reign. She swung at the guards running at her, knocking them down as though they weren’t thousands of times bigger than her. I rolled under two of them and caught up to Toothless, trying to jump on his back. But just before I could, the ground between us split and began to push apart. The large chunk he stood on bore too much weight, and crumbled beneath him, causing him to tumble down.

“Toothless!”

The metal bars covering the arena began to collapse, and I jumped up, grabbing onto one and dangling. I watched as Reign began to climb, getting to the highest point in an attempt to scope things out. Toothless rested just below me, along with Dagur. Toothless attempted to fire at him, but nothing came out of his mouth.

“Six shot limit.” He managed to fight off the guards charging at him, but Dagur jumped up on his head, causing him to attempt and buck him off.

“Toothless!” He managed to throw Dagur off his back and climb up a little higher. I looked down at him and nodded, giving him the signal. Without hesitation, I released my grip on the bars, and Toothless caught me. The second I hit his back, I slipped my foot into the pedal and opened his tail. “Whew.” I flicked my eyes up, only to see men running at us. “Oh, great.”

We managed to take a few out, but all too quickly, a large wave came toward us. Toothless was out of shots for now, so there was no way we’d be able to defeat them. With nothing else left to do, we stood our ground as I tried to think of a way out.

That’s when a large stream of fire shot down around us, knocking every single one of them back.

“Whoa!” I looked up to see Barf and Belch flying overhead. I let out a big sigh of relief. The other Riders had finally arrived. “This is chaos on a level I’ve never seen before.”

“I know! I want to live here!”

“Forever!”

“Boy, are we ever glad to see you guys,” I declared as Astrid and Stormfly hovered near us.

“Don’t thank us yet,” she cautioned. “Things are about to get a lot crazier.” The two of us took off, and I met my dad by the cliffs. There was still no sign of Reign, but I knew she could handle herself, so I trusted her. Off in the distance, the bright, white form of the Screaming Death flew closer to the island.

“Why in the name of Odin did you bring _that_ here?” I climbed off Toothless and stared my dad down.

“This may be the only chance we have to get rid of him. I saw the Screaming Death’s mother; it’s been destroying those islands, looking for her.” My dad’s eyes cast downward for a moment.

“It has a _mother_?”

“Yeah.” The Whispering Death mother let out a tiny roar, spotting her child. “They’ve seen each other. All we have to do now is get them together, and get clear of this place.”

“Then what?” Stormfly fired at a Whispering Death that got a little too close.

“I’m hoping it does exactly what I think it should.” I intentionally remained vague, wanting everyone to be surprised if it worked, but be able to play things off if it didn’t.

“And what would that be?”

“Something… good?” A deafening scream shook the island, and I looked up to see Fishlegs and the Screaming Death right overhead. “Now, Fishlegs!” I shouted up to him. “Now!”

Fishlegs and Meatlug dropped the Dragon Root they were dangling into the water, causing the Screaming Death to focus on its mother. They began to roar at each other, stopped in their tracks, and for a moment, I thought we could finally be done with this. That was, until ropes wrapped around the Whispering Death mother, and Dagur and his men began to pull her down. Frustrated, I flew down to Dagur and tried to reason with him.

“Dagur, no! You don’t know what you’re doing! Let that Whispering Death go before it destroys us all!”

“Why would I do that? _Hello_? I’m deranged.”

“Well, you can’t argue with logic like that.” I glared momentarily at Tuff before trying to get Dagur to let go.

“Back off, Hiccup! You know if I destroy her, that thing will take us all out.” I tried to argue, but unfortunately, Dagur had a point.

“He’s right. Everyone, back off.” Toothless backed up against the wall, still growling.

“Wise choice. Now, I might be interested in a trade.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, come on. Really? You couldn’t see _this_ coming?”

“Never retreat! Never surrender!” I looked up in horror to see Snotlout and Hookfang loop around, then barrel straight for us. 

“Snotlout!” The Monstrous Nightmare fired a large blast, knocking all of the Berserkers from the ropes and allowing the Whispering Death mother to fly toward her child. Toothless and I followed them up to the cliff side, watching as they reunited for the first time since it had been an egg. A smile spread onto my face as a warm feeling grew in my chest, but it all faded when the Screaming Death got close to Toothless and I. I prepared myself to fight again, but after screaming in our faces and nearly deafening us, the group of Whispering Deaths and one Screaming Death flew off to wherever their instincts would take them. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be Berk.

“Uh, you’re welcome?” I didn’t really know how to take that, but it didn’t matter at this point.

Snotlout and Hookfang quickly landed in front of Toothless and I, the former appearing panicked.

“Okay, I know I wasn’t following orders, Hiccup, but I—well, um…”

“Snotlout. You did the right thing.”

“Yeah, I did, but—wait, what? Are you messing with me? I was _reckless_.”

I wasn’t about to let Snotlout and I turn into the next versions of my dad and Alvin.

“Sometimes reckless… can be courageous. Your suspension is, well, suspended.” I extended my hand out to him, and after a moment of hesitation, he gripped and shook it.

The moment was quickly interrupted, however, when Dagur jumped up out of the pit, screaming and charging right for us. But before he could get too close, I shield swung out and struck him right in the face, knocking him to the ground. I watched as Reign forcefully reached down and picked him up, securing his arms behind his back.

“You have no _idea_ how long I’ve been waiting to do that.” He tried to break from her grasp, so she kicked him to the ground, bending one of his arms behind him in an unnatural way. A large, lumbering figure made his way over to Reign, and she released Dagur for a moment. “He’s all yours, Alvin.”

Alvin leaned down over Dagur, smirking.

“’Ello, Dagur. Remember me?” Dagur cried out in horror as Alvin picked him up. 

“Hiccup! Reign? Sister?” She smirked at her brother and waved her hand dismissively.

“Lock him up for good, Alvin.”

I jumped down from Toothless and faced her, and after a moment of hesitation, she moved some of her red curls from her face and leaned forward, grabbing my arm and bringing our lips together.

“I don’t think anniversaries are _ever_ gonna be normal,” she laughed after releasing me. I could feel my cheeks burning with a bright, red blush.

“Uh, y-yeah. Well, I mean, we can try our best.”

We smiled at each other a moment longer, then I gestured for her to climb onto Toothless. Reign wrapped her arms around my waist, but before we left, I spotted my father and Alvin up on the cliff, speaking to each other without a sign of resentment. Eventually, they shook hands, finally bringing their feud to an end. With everything wrapped up, we headed back to Berk. Everyone else scattered, but my dad, Reign, and I went to a more secluded cliff. I could tell he had something on his mind he needed to tell us.

“You know, son. You’re gonna be a great chief someday. One of the best, I’d wager.” I chuckled awkwardly at my dad’s words

“Yeah… if the last few days are any indication of what it’s like to be chief, I’d just as soon leave that to you.” My eyes flickered back to Reign. “But, when the time comes, I’ll hopefully have the fiercest decision-maker by my side to help me out.” She turned bright red, eyes moving to the ground.

“Hiccup…” She gave me an odd look, almost appearing embarrassed.

“What?” I laughed. After a moment, Reign chuckled to herself and shook her head.

“Nothing, babe.”

Now it was _my_ turn to blush. She’d never called me by a nickname before, but… I liked it. Her eyes went wide when she realized what she said.

“Uhh… sorry, I—“

“Don’t apologize.” Slowly, that smile returned to her face. “I like your hair down, by the way. You should leave it like that.”

“Well, then maybe, I will.”

“Retreat! _Retreat!”_

I watched Snotlout and Hookfang zoom by overhead, the latter of which covered in flames. The rest of the Dragon Riders weren’t far behind him, and when they spotted Reign and I, they stopped, hovering above the cliff.

“Hiccup, Reign? We need you.” Despite the chaos of the moment, Astrid had a smile on her face.

“Stoick!” The three of us turned around to see Gobber coming over from the arena. “Silent Sven just broke his silence! And you are _not_ gonna like what he has to say.” Chuckling, I looked up at my dad.

“Go on,” he encouraged. “Looks like we both have our own chiefing to do.” With that, I glanced down at my dragon.

“Come on, bud.”

_This is Berk. We’ve got ice, we’ve got snow, and we’ve got more ice. But, we’ve also got dragons. We train them, learn from them, protect them, and they protect us… sometimes from ourselves. But one thing’s for sure—we wouldn’t trade this for anything._

_Would you?_


End file.
